


The Risen Dead

by MissYaoiShipper



Category: Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Zombie Apocalypse, Don't worry it's not all bad, Heavy Angst, Human Experimentation, I Tried, I swear, Implied/Referenced Abuse, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Some dark shit..., Suicidal Thoughts, This has a plot, Yandere Dimitri, but at the same time i do, i have no idea what im doing
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-20
Updated: 2019-10-20
Packaged: 2020-09-23 00:34:54
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 29,052
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20331112
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MissYaoiShipper/pseuds/MissYaoiShipper
Summary: The world fell to shit, people are eating each other, and he just wants to survive. When did a freakishly strong blond brute fit into that?OrI need more Dimileth content with Bylad, also Yandere Dimitri cuz why not?





	1. Chapter 1

Byleth remembers when his services were required for killing alive people, or sometimes even people near death, but never dead people.

Even now, he was on his way to eliminate risen that found their way into temporary settlement. Even to someone like him, the ashen demon who kills without hesitation or remorse, was more than a little unsettled that corpses started walking one day and eating people. Every so often, he comes across a former target or someone he once knew, and he gets mixed feelings.

Now was one of those times.

"Father..." He wheezed out, his chest clenching painfully, though his face hardly gave anything away.

His very own father stood before him, covered in blood, seemingly looking right at his soul with blank unseeing eyes. The one person that he ever felt sad over dying, the only person that made him cry.

...and he wanted to kill Byleth.

To be perfectly fair, _anyone _would be conflicted over killing their father.

Deep down, he knew this wasn't the same man he was before he died. He _also _knew that if he could think on his own, he would've asked Byleth to kill him. So he did what had to he done...

Byleth steeled his features, and raised his pistol in front of him.

"Goodbye, father..."

Bang.

The body in front of him dropped, and Byleth felt just a little less human than before.

However in this world, there wasn't any time to mourn, so he had to press on.

To some, it might seem sad, but it was just the truth. Sure, he just 'killed' his father, but it didn't change the fact that people needed his help. It definitely wouldn't do him any good to cry again, because his father was gone and no amount of crying would ever bring him back.

So he kept going, ready to defend the settlement that requested his services.

* * *

Every day it got harder to shut out the voices, and the faces that haunted him never seemed to leave him alone.

Their cries begged him for vengeance, to find the one responsible for killing all of them in the first place. To destroy that detestable lab, and set free all those it held captive. To join them...

"Soon..." He would whisper to their ghosts that only he could see.

First, he needed to find the Adrestian Corporation and burn them to the ground. The dead shall have their tribute! He knew that someone must put a stop to this cycle of the strong trampling the weak, and if no one else would do it, be would free humanity from it's shackles himself.

Until then, he would take down all the blood stained beasts like him.

He glared at the logo in front of him, his only clue to finding the ones responsible for turning him into a monster. The only thing he knew was the logo and it's name, which was an eagle with the words 'Adrestian Corp.' in bold print.

A cold and icy blue eye gazed outside of the window in front of him, a seething hatred the only emotion visible on his face.

"I will find you Adrestian Corp..." He vowed to the sky, his grip tightening on the steel pipe in his hands.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heeeeey so I just wanted you guys to know that this is a multichap, and I promise the chapters will be longer than the first one, kk?

To be perfectly honest, Byleth was _this _close to panicking.

Why?

Because what was supposed to be maybe, seven risen turned into thirty. Sure, he wasn't no stranger to a fight, and he's had a few close calls in his time, but he was definitely outmatched here. In terms of skill, he could run circles around these risen, but he didn't have the stamina, ammunition, _or _the openings to do it. How would his sister put it again? Ah, of course...

He was fucked.

When Byleth got to the settlement, over half of the settlers were dead, and the Risen were already starting to devour whoever was left. He didn't understand how things could escalate so quickly. He told whoever was left to evacuate and find help if they could, but that left him here on his own to defeat these risen.

There didn't seem to be an easy way out either, which only made this situation harder. When he accepted this request, he never expected that he might just die trying to fulfil it. Maybe this sounds arrogant, but he wasn't expecting to be even remotely challenged at all. Yet here he was staring death in the face...

In order to save bullets, because those things were _not _easy to come across, he pulled out a simple black combat knife and gloves in order to make sure he didn't lose his grip. It wasn't ideal for long battles, or multiple enemies, but it would have to do. All his options were really crappy right now in terms of fighting style. On one hand, he could reserve his stamina for a longer fight with his guns, or he could save his bullets for extra tough risen by going melee on them. Either way, he was losing something valuable that could potentially alter the outcome of this battle.

...and he had no time to think the consequences through. His only thought right now, was: to survive.

He was born a fighter, and he'll be damned if he doesn't go like one too. Just like how he was born a fighter, he was also born a survivor, so there was no way he was going to lay down and die either. Byleth had to cut down his own _father _to get this far, there was no way he was going to die before making it up to him.

A slight breeze blew in his direction, sweeping his light mint bangs away from his face, and also blowing the scent of rotten flesh and blood his direction as well. Green eyes narrowed in determination, his mouth set in a tight line.

He needed to wait for the risen to get closer, otherwise he'll be wasting energy, and shooting would only attract more of them.

One.

They were getting closer, any second now and he could start a counter attack.

Two.

A couple of them were already close enough, but he still needed to wait a little more.

He closed his eyes, and took a deep breath.

Three.

Green eyes opened, and any trace of emotion was gone. In it's stead, was the hardened face of a person who has seen a lot of battles.

As if on some imaginary que, he charged ahead three paces and attacked the nearest corpse. It took two slashes to strike it down, one in the head, and the other in the neck. Byleth turned around, not letting his guard down for a moment. After all, that's all it took to meet a bloody fate, a moment.

One down, twenty nine left to go.

While the risen couldn't see, they had an exceptional sense of smell and hearing. So it didn't surprise Byleth in the slightest that they noticed he was closer to them now.

To conserve more stamina, Byleth waited again for the risen to get within striking range. Chagning his stance as he did so, and gripping his knife just a little tighter. He tried really hard not to, really he did, but he was only human. Killing one of the risen made him a bit more confident that he waited for_ two _risen to get closer.

When the duo approached him, he made a powerful jabbing notion to the closer of the two's skull, and dragged his knife from the flesh. The husk went down with a scream, and the other one approached.

This one was bigger than the other two, but not so much that it posed a threat. The thing that concerned him a bit, was that it was also faster than he was. He knew speed wasn't everything, and that it could be countered if the person in the situation was particularly skilled in tactics, but it still put him at a disadvantage. He briefly wondered how someone so big and strong didn't survive, but he had no time for such thoughts.

A big arm made a swiping motion, and he had to practically dive to the left to avoid it. When the muscly arm connected to the ground, a cracking sound was left in it's wake. Even though their arm looked pretty gross, he had a feeling it wasnt just the arm that cracked. The tiny crater in the ground seemed to agree with that theory too.

While the other was recovering from being confused as to why he didn't hit anything, Byleth lunged toward the big risen and suddenly dropped to the ground. Instead of going for the head, because if he waited for an opening the other would get at least three hits on him, he cut off one of it's feet. The thing fell to the ground and lost it's already terrible balance, and as much as he hated turning his back on an enemy, he would just have to deal with it later. Right now, there were more important things to deal with.

Using one hand, he wiped the first bits of sweat off of his forehead, and held in the pant that wanted to come out by swallowing. If he was already starting to get tired after only three risen, the trip here must've taken more out of him than he thought. Though, the stress probably wasn't good for him either.

Once he took at good look at his surroundings, he realized he needed to extremely smart about his next couple of moves. Byleth wasn't really religious, but a miracle would help too.

While he was fighting the last risen, he was so focused on the fight at hand, he failed to realize how much closer the others had gotten to him. He was outnumbered seven to one, and they were still getting closer. He needed a plan, and he needed it _now._

A gloved hand reached into the gun holster at his left hip, and pulled out a shiny handgun. In the longrun, it might make things _worse_ for him, but he needed to get out of this situation right now.

The mint haired man was a man of few words, and those words that seldom made it's way out of his mouth never included swears or curses.

...until now.

"Come at me fuckers..."

* * *

Breath Annette, breathe damnit!

In, out. In, out.

The ginger haired girl was in the middle of a crisis. Her settlement just got attacked, and she had no idea where to go right now. Sure, she might be able to go back if that man actually managed to get rid of all those risen. Now she didn't want to sound _mean _or anything, but could one man actually take on thirty-something risen?

"Annie, let's not get ahead of ourselves. If we find him help, he won't be alone, remember?" A soft and gentle voice spoke up.

The girl rubbed the back of her head in a sheepish motion, feeling a bit embarrassed. Of course there was still something that needed to be done, how could she forget.

"You're right Mercie, I'm sorry. It's just so... sudden! After the apocalypse started, I had nowhere to go. When that settlement let us in, I was so happy. But now..." Annette trailed off, a worried and scared look in her blue eyes.

"Oh it's okay Annie. I'm scared too, but we need to stay calm. It's up to us to find help for that guy." She comforted her, a kind and understanding look on her face.

"Right!" The shorter girl nodded, a fierce determination blazing across her features.

The two walked on aimlessly, looking for some sign of another person, but coming up short. Even though the older girl didn't say anything, Annette could tell that she was getting tired. How did she know? Because _she _was getting tired, so she could imagine that Mercedes was close to collapsing right about now.

"Mercie, let's take a break. We won't be able to defend ourselves if we can't even stand." Annette looked pleadingly to her light haired companion.

Mercedes seemed to look away for a moment, but sighed.

"Oh alright, but if we see anyone we're taking them straight to the settlement." She bargained, and Annette nodded.

There wasn't exactly any couches or chairs around, so the front steps of an abandoned house would have to do.

The two girls were just a little too jumpy and stressed to make conversation, so they sat in relative silence. Besides, what would they say?

"Oh doesn't that risen over there look cute? He would totally be my type if he didn't look like he'd eat me, or if he wasn't _dead._"

...yeah, no.

Wait, risen?

Annette froze up, and her eyes widened in fear. Yeah, she's seen risen before, but never out of the safety of her home. It was gonna eat her!

She stiffly turned her head to her companion, and saw Mercedes make a shushing motion with her hand.

Risen couldn't see, but they had an amazing sense of smell and hearing. If they were lucky, it might just walk right on past them. They just needed to buy themselves enough time to escape. As silently as she possibly could, she saw Mercedes pick up a small pebble.

Annette immediately knew what her plan was, and started to prepare herself to get up. Mercedes looked at her, and lifted one of her hands to show three fingers. She put one down, raised her right arm to prepare her aim. She put another one down and closed one eye for better focus.

At the last finger going down, she threw the pebble as hard as she could at a faraway streetlamp.

Mercedes still had her hand up, and waited until the risen was at least a good ten meters away before putting her hand down. Annette nodded, and slowly got up, making sure to help her friend. Poor Annette though, she never _was _lucky.

Creak.

Once she took a step towards Mercedes, the wooden step beneath her creaked under her weight.

The risen stopped in it's tracks and slowly turned around, a loud groan coming from it. It made a sniffing motion and started limping towards their direction. Annette went cold, and froze up again.

Mercedes stood up and went in front of Annette in a protective stance. Annette's older companion didn't know the first thing about fights because she studied medicine, and it only just occurred to Annette what she was planning to do.

"Mercie no..." She said quietly, feeling her eyes get wet.

"It's going to be okay Annie, I'll be right behind you." The older woman said just as quietly as Annette.

Upon hearing their hushed voices, the risen started sprinting at them, moving at speeds that shouldn't have possible with it's useless leg.

Annette grabbed Mercedes' wrist tightly, "Come with me, please!" She begged the older woman.

Mercedes was about to say something, but froze when the hairs on her neck stood up. On her neck she felt breathing, and a fowl stench filled the air.

"Run Annie..."

Annette tightly closed her eyes, and screamed.

The sound of a skull getting crushed filled the air, and she started hyperventilating.

"A-Annie, look! We're okay!" Mercedes cried out to her, tears of joy rushing down her face.

Annette slowly opened her eyes and ran into the other girl's arms sobbing.

They both turned their heads to look towards the one who saved them, and suddenly felt at a loss for words. The face before them now...

"Dimitri, is that you?" Mercedes asked the tall blond man before them, making sure to keep her voice gentle.

Time has not been kind to the man, his once neatly kept hair dulled and ratty. The blue eyed man wore an eyepatch now, testament to the rough times he's faced. Bigger and broader than he used to be, but perhaps the most surprising thing of all was the hateful look on his face. Such hatred, it scared Mercedes and Annette.

Dimitri turned to face them, his only eye showing nothing but madness and hatred.

"Hmph."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay I tried really hard, but I'm still not sure about this chapter. Plz let me kno what you think...


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The big bang started everything

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hellloooooooo! I'm here with another chapter to the peeps who actually read this!

Wait.

Dodge.

Slash.

Repeat.

Pure muscle memory and instinct was all that was keeping him alive at this point. If he wasn't as skilled as he was, Byleth would be dead right now. Too many close calls happened for his liking, and he was still nowhere near finished. Maybe it was just him, but he also felt like he was getting cornered?

Which, by the way, he had _no_ intention of letting happen. He just couldn't ignore the fact that fighting in a cramped place filled with poorly constructed houses was not going to end well for him, even if he _did _make it out alive. At this point, he wasn't counting on some help to magically appear either. Mentally, he did an inventory of what little supplies he had that could help him.

The mint haired man had about enough ammunition to reload four times, as well as two grenades and six throwing knives. All of which he was reluctant to use. It took _months _to gather up even _that_ much supplies, and if he used it all up now he would be defenseless later. Plus, the grenades would do more harm than good. There was no decent place to take cover, and if he managed to save this place, he doesn't want to destroy several homes in the process. That's not even mentioning how much attention he would draw with all the loud explosions.

Trying to solo all these risen like a video game character in a boss map was _not _a good idea. He swears to god that if he makes it out of this alive, he _will_ find a partner as soon as he's done, if only to never end up in this situation ever again.

"Ughhhhh...." Came a groan from his right.

Byleth felt the hairs on his neck rise, and his survival instincts kicked in.

...a little too late.

The green eyed man held in a scream of pain, and settled for hissing instead. He clutched his shoulder tightly, and dropped his knife in the process.

Of all the times to get distracted...

_"Dad! _ _It hurts..." A little boy whined, trying to ignore his two snickering sisters._

_The man smirked a bit, even though he was trying to hide it. He seemed to pretend to consider it, and walked away._

_"Here I thought you wanted me to by all of you ice cream... What did you say again? 'You're on old man! There's no way I'm gonna loose!'?" The man looked over his broad shoulder, rasing an eyebrow._

_The little boy looked away with a sheepish look on his face, a blush evident on his pale skin. A hand went to rub at his still slightly hurting shoulder._

_"That's not fair! I... uh, S-Sothis and Blair distracted me!" He crossed his arms over his chest, and hoped his father didn't see how embarrassed he was._

_Cries of, "What?!" and "Hey!!" were shouted at the same time from the sisters watching from the sides. Both of them now sporting identical angry looks._

_"Alright, you win. But remember, you can't always get distracted so easily. My line of work is dangerous and since you want to be apart of it, you have to understand that getting distracted could be all it takes to meet a bloody end." The man lectured him, all traces of amusement gone and replaced with 'business mode'._

_The little teal haired boy sighed, and nodded his head. He felt like his father was mad at him, and it made him feel really sad._

_"Yeah, yeah, I know..." He replied, his voice trembling ever so slightly._

_"Hey what's with that face? I thought you liked ice cream?"_

_The little boy dared to look up, and was met with the smiling faces of his family. He couldn't help but smile too, and nodded his head happily._

Byleth couldn't believe he'd made such a rookie mistake.

When two more risen came, he tried to slash at them, but ended up punching one in the face instead. He inwardly cursed at both his stupidity, and the pain now flaring in his hand. The worst part was probably that he wasn't a very good brawler, and the most the risen did was stumble a step or two backwards.

The man frantically looked on the ground for his knife, but couldn't keep his eyes on the ground very long because the other risen was now too close for comfort.

He pulled out his handgun and fired a shot at it's head, and immediately went to find cover.

'Cover' ended up being a stack of crates, but it would do for now.

Byleth was breathing heavily, and continued to look for his knife while hiding. Risen were already making their way to him, but he wasn't expecting to be able to hide for very long, not from their bloodhound noses.

He closed his eyes and breathed in deeply.

The mint haired man pulled a grenade from his belt, and clutched it tightly.

This was it

This was his last attempt at getting away alive, if this failed...

He's dead.

Getting up, he checked his surroundings and already made an escape route. With his mouth set in a tight line, he pulled the flask and threw as hard as he could. It didn't matter where it landed, all that mattered was the when. Which was, quite frankly, something that he had no intention of finding out.

As soon as it left his hand, Byleth started sprinting away.

After he made it about five metres, he tripped on something and went rolling away. His right leg was now searing with pain, and he had to bite his hand to stop the scream from coming out. From the corner of his eye, he could see the risen who's foot he cut off slowly inching it's way towards him. Tears started to spill from the corners of his eyes, as he held back sobs.

He only had about twenty seconds before it went off, and he didn't think he could stand. Even if he could, he wouldn't get away in time. Tears started spilling out of his eyes and choked back sobs tore their way from his throat.

He was _so _damn close...

Closing his eyes, he tried to accept his fate, but he couldn't. He still needed to find Blair and Sothis...

Green eyes narrowed.

No, he refused to fall here.

Shakily holding his gun, he fired a shot at the crawling risen making its way towards him. Not wasting even a second, he started using his good arm to crawl towards the now permanently dead corpse. He couldn't get away in time, but he could still find cover.

Once he reached his destination, he sloppily pulled the corpse on top of his body to act as a sort of shield from the incoming blast. Even in this situation where it was life or death, he almost wanted to take his chances in the explosion if it meant getting away from the horrible smell of blood and rotten flesh. He settled for closing his eyes and breathing through his mouth instead, trying not to think about the pain in his leg, shoulder, and now nose.

A moment later a large boom exploded in the area, and his ears were ringing.

There.

He heard a gust of debris come flying at him, and it suddenly felt far too hot, but he dared not move even an inch.

That raging heat was coming closer and he suddenly felt so painful, all his wounds were screaming in agony and he felt new ones starting to form. The corpse smelled even worse when it was burning, it was torture just to force himself conscious.

The man felt a pain in his stomach and it caused him to see stars, he briefly thought that maybe a piece of debris hit the corpse on top of him.

All he could think about was how painful everything was, and how much he just wanted to sleep all of a sudden.

It was important to rest and take breaks right? His father told him that once...

Maybe, he'll just rest for a couple of minutes...

Just a...

The man had fallen unconscious, his eyes closing and his body going limp.

* * *

"Mercedes! Look!" Annette cried out, a look of horror on her face.

When Mercedes finally caught up to the ginger haired woman, she gasped.

Most of the risen were gone from their home with only a couple of crawlers lingering about, and she was happy for that, but...

"Hn. Just one man caused all this destruction?" Came a strangely and eerily calm voice.

"I..." Mercedes did not know what to say to that, as she was still taking in the damge herself.

"We should go and see if... Huh? Wait Dimitri, where are you going?" Annette called out to the man walking towards the mess.

Dimitri did not heed her call and continued to walk, a maniacal look on his handsome features. Whoever could cause destruction of this scale and still be alive had to be strong, and he needed somebody strong to help him achieve his ambitions. He did not care for the crawling corpses, but disposed of them anyway.

"..."

Dimitri could say nothing as he saw an unconscious man on the ground. There was no doubt about it that he was the one who did this, since he was the only non-risen in this place. All he could think was...

_Perfect._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading another chapter of my shitty fanfiction! XD
> 
> PS fights are so hard to write! Especially with multiple enemies... Or maybe that's just my noob writing skills speaking


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So just gonna let you know, I do plan on writing smut for this fanfiction, but not in this chapter.

A young woman was violently squeezing a rag, as violently as a gentle woman like her could, with her lips pursed. Currently, she was washing and dressing the wounds of 'The Ashen Demon'. He was healing surprisingly well for someone who one corpse away from taking a direct impact of an explosion. She didn't wish he was _dead _per se, she just hoped he'd stay unconscious long enough for Dimitri to get impatient and leave.

How on earth was she going to explain to this person that he was now 'claimed' by the 'boar' as Felix would have put it. A sad look crossed her eyes at the thought of the sharp tongued man. She missed all her old classmates, she may have Annie and... _some _of Dimitri now, but she missed the rest of them too.

Looking down at the unconscious face for the umpteenth time, she wondered why Dimitri had taken such a twisted fascination with this person he doesn't even _know. _In a shorter time than a day no less. Wait... That couldn't be it, could it?

Mercedes' eyes narrowed slightly in thought.

"Dimitri, they're not the same..." She quietly whispered to the night air around her.

Once she looked closer at the man, there was no questions for why anymore. It became clear as day the moment she remembered her older days and older friends. She could only hope that this man wouldn't get hurt later, and that Dimitri eventually realized that forcing his years of pent up feelings onto others wouldn't change anything.

She closed her eyes, and clasped her hands together. People mocked her faith nowadays, and God himself, but Mercedes would never give up her faith. In a way, it was her clinging to the past and the normalcy it gives her, but there was something soothing about praying even if it never came true.

"Dear Lord, please watch over Dimitri and guide him down a path of healing."

She prayed to a God that even she had a hard time believing in anymore, but if anyone needed the prayer, it was Dimitri.

If faith could do anything, she could be a miracle worker. Maybe she wouldn't have had to prove she was a doctor to the settlers just to earn her and Annie's keep. For now though, she needed to believe that this time her prayers _would _be answered. If not, she was going to drag Dimitri by his unkempt hair all the way to Garreg Mach. She was sure that if he could see for himself that they were truly gone, he might be able to stop pretending and move on.

"Dimitri's not a bad man, he used to be such a kind soul. Maybe... Maybe this a good thing, because you might be the one to set him on the right path again..." She cried silently to the man who probably couldn't even hear her, gently washing the blood off of his face with the cloth she had wringed out.

She didn't have the power to make Dimitri listen to her, and neither did Annette. But this stranger? His power and strength is what captured Dimitri's attention in the first place, he's the only one that had a chance of setting him straight.

Mercedes has only been reunited with Dimitri for a little under a week now, but she knew that if he treaded his path any longer, he would get lost and never come out.

"Please help him if God can't..."

It was a lot to ask a stranger, trust her when she says she knew that, but without Felix, Sylvain, Ingrid, or even Dedue, he was the only one who could do anything.

Mercedes sat there the whole night, silently weeping for time lost, and innocence stolen. The whole time, she disinfected his wounds, changed his bandages and washed his clothes.

If only...

There was too many things she could say that for now...

* * *

The first time he came to, he was in so much pain he blacked out as soon as he woke up.

* * *

The second time, he couldn't open his eyes and he was still in pain, but it stopped hurting enough that he stayed conscious for several minutes before giving in to his body and sleeping once more.

Before he went unconscious again, he heard voices around him.

"Dimitri you can't take him now!" A woman's voice shouted at someone angrily.

"Silence woman!" A man's voice barked back.

"He's not ready, he could die if-"

A loud slapping sound filled the space around them and the unmistakable sound of a body hitting the ground. Byleth heard that sound too many times, but he wasn't accustomed to people enough to be used to the sound of the wailing that came after.

"Even if you hurt me, it won't change a thing!" The woman screamed with hurt, and for some reason, it sounded out of place for her voice.

He couldn't hold onto consciousness long enough to stay awake after that and Byleth fallen in a deep, but troubled slumber once more.

* * *

When he woke for the third time from his healing rest, his body felt much better and cleaner than it had in a while. Though, there was still a stiffness in his muscles and a sharp pain in his shoulder, leg and stomach that probably wouldn't go away anytime soon.

The green eyed man felt eyes on him, and his instincts took over.

Byleth sat up, despite how much his body protested at the sudden movement, and felt his senses go alert. He felt someone was there with him, and an unpleasant and unwelcome chill wrack through his body. He didn't believe in ghosts, not when the dead didn't get to rest, but the person looking at him left him feeling strangely vulnerable. Sure, technically speaking he was _already_ vulnerable since last he checked, explosions weren't good for your health. Somehow, this felt different though.

"So, it seems you're finally awake." An ever so slightly ragged voice from behind him spoke up, making Byleth turn around.

The man behind him was blond, and wearing all black with the exception of a blue jacket adorned with fluffy and rich looking... fur...? The jacket hung snuggly off of broad and powerful looking shoulders. His eyes, or _eye _he should say, was a brilliant blue which tugged at a locked away memory in his heart that he still wasn't ready to face yet. Finally, there was his face. Byleth had never had time for romance, or even flings, but that didn't mean he was asexual or sexually inactive. He would be the first to admit that the man in front of him was - _very_ \- good looking, if only to himself. He looked indifferent, but as the _king_ of indifference it looked like he had placed that expression there on purpose as a mask of sorts.

Still, even though Byleth knew the man was attractive there was still something seriously wrong with him that made warning bells go off in his head.

"Who are you?" He cautiously asked the blond man, who Byleth turned to fully face.

"Hmph. I do not recall giving you permission to speak." The man narrowed his eyes, his tone screaming danger and warning.

Byleth narrowed his eyes at the man, a warning of his own. If there was one thing that could make Byleth lose his shit, it was being talked to like... a thing! He had too many bad memories of people who treated him like an object to be revered, and not like the person he was. Did this man know he was playing a dangerous game with Byleth by talking like that to him?

"Don't talk to me like that." He told the other man, his eyes still narrowed coldly.

Screw this man _and _his good looks. It felt like he dodged a bullet with this one.

"I will talk to you however I want. You're mine." The man said authoritatively, rasing his chin in an intimidating way.

There was a clear challenge in his blue eye. So what did he do? Byleth rised to the challenge with one of his own.

"I don't belong to anyone, especially not to some man with mental problems." He meant to say it to get the other to back off, but things don't always go according to plan. Seriously, whoever said fight fire with fire must have been drunk on something.

For a brief second, there was a flash of hurt on his face that was gone as quickly as it had come. For a moment, Byleth had felt like the worst person to ever exist. He inwardly winced when he recalled his own words. When he actually thought about it, it was a really low blow to use someone's mental health against them. Still, he felt something bad would happen if he apologized, like he was allowing him to treat Byleth that way. Which he wasn't.

"You don't belong to me you say?" The blond male's shoulders were shaking, and it took Byleth a second to realize he was laughing since the blond had his head hung low.

"I should show you right here and right now how wrong you are." The blue eyed man looked up, a dark look across his features.

It was so dark that _Byleth _of all people got shivers. Those warning bells in his head felt more like the screeching sirens they played to signal the start of the apocalypse. There was _definitely_ something very wrong with the person in front of him.

...but Byleth found that for all the negative feelings that piercing blue gaze gave him, he just couldn't look away.

"No." He still couldn't give in though. "It won't change anything. I still belong to nobody."

Something changed in the blond man's eyes after ge said that, almost like recognition. Just like that, all that weird feeling left the space they were in.

"Is that a fact?"

"It is."

A pair of pale lips curled into a smirk, "What's life without challenges?" He looked directly at the green eyed man, something lighting up in that blue gaze.

There was an unspoken promise in there somewhere, one that Byleth didn't care to understand. Suddenly he felt tired again, so he shifted around in his makeshift bed, until he was laying down once more.

He heard the sound of floorboards creaking, and knew the other had gotten up without even needing to look.

"My name is Dimitri." Byleth heard a quiet voice along with the sound of footsteps that had paused.

Startled at the man breaking the silence, he craned his head, but he wasn't there anymore. Instead, he felt a slightly crumpled piece of paper near his head. Frowning, he wondered how he could've missed it. Filled with curiosity, he picked it up and read it with the rooms dim lamplight.

_Hello, this is Mercedes. I cleaned your clothing while you were out, and hopefully someone should have brought spares by now. Thank you for saving my home._

_-Mercedes_

The man had a faint smile on his face as he read the letter, happy that some of the settlers survived.

...at least until he read the first line over again and realized what that implied. He lifted up the blanket he draped over himself, and saw he was stark naked save for his briefs.

He looked to where Dimitri was sitting, and saw a pile of clothes there.

Two and two clicked together, and like the very mature ex assassin that he was, he proceeded to scream into his pillow with all the embarrassment of a high school girl who confessed to their crush.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I guess that happened. What did you think? Personally, I had to rewrite this chapter four times and I'm still not really satisfied. But hey, I guess I'm my own worst critique.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope this chapter isn't too confusing or anything. Anyway, I made this chapter slightly longer, but meh

Byleth felt like if he glared at the poor messenger boy in front of him hard enough, he’ll go away and tell the world to leave him alone. The one time he left his room, the new medical wing for the settlement, he had to go see the reason he didn’t like to leave his room.

“Uh, m-mister Ashen Demon sir, they said to come get you as soon as you were awake..” The boy’s voice got quieter and quieter the closer he got to finishing his sentence.

Byleth sighed, resisting the childish urge to pout and stick his tongue out at the boy. Gosh, if everyone knew how childish he could be, he probably wouldn’t even be called the ‘The Ashen Demon’ in the first place.

“My name is Byleth Eisner, stop calling me that.” He looked away, feeling bad for blaming the messenger boy for Dimitri wanting to see him. He took another deep breath, steeling himself for what he was about to say. “Tell them I’ll be there…”

The boy’s face seemed to lighten up at seeing that Byleth wasn’t mad at him anymore. “Alright Mr. Eisner!” He smiled brightly, waving goodbye as he went to relay the message.

The green eyed man walked very slowly towards the square, both out of pettiness and pain, being constantly tired all the time probably didn't help either. He hasn’t fully recovered yet, even though he was much better than when he first woke up.

He briefly wondered what Dimitri, Mercedes, and Annette could want with him. If it was more of his services, he would have to remind them all that he was technically a cripple right now. How he even managed to walk around was beyond him, even Mercedes said that after those injuries, he shouldn’t have been able to walk ever again. The ex doctor said that he might even make a full recovery, but it would take some time. Besides, he was pretty sure that Dimitri was a one man army and more than capable of taking on a few risen by himself. He’s heard enough praises from passing nurses about the strong and handsome Dimitri. Byleth snorted at the memory, because those nurses had no idea.

He was protecting the survivors, or so they believed, but he knew better. There were two reasons that he bothered at all, and the mint haired man knew them both. Dimitri may have told him one, but the other was so painfully obvious. The first one, was because he didn’t want his ‘property’ to be damaged. Every time the one eyed man referred to Byleth as anything less than a person, he felt like kicking him. The other, was simply because he took a twisted pleasure in it. The way his one visible eye lit up every time Byleth was forced to sit through yet another bloody tale of how he ‘protected’ him yet again was sickening. It was kind of hard to miss the maniacal gleam in his eye when he talked about the feeling of crushing a skull with one hand.

He hated him, Byleth decided.

It was a quick and on the spot decision, but seeing him in person had helped his belief that no, he wasn’t just saying that like he would to Blair after beating him in yet another round of Mario Kart.

“What do you want?” He got straight to the point, trying not to wince at the pain in his legs as he sat down.

Dimitri raised an eyebrow at his pathetic attempt at hiding his pain, and Byleth fought the urge to roll his eyes and scowl. Who did he think he was? ...Dimitri…? Yeah, he couldn’t even come up with a witty insult in his own head. To be fair, he didn’t have anything or anyone to compare Dimitri to, the closest he got was a combination of Sothis and Blair, but twisted.

“Hey, nice to see you.” Annette’s voice spoke up, Byleth suddenly remembering that it wasn’t just Dimitri who wanted him here.

“How are you feeling?” Mercedes chimed in, a look of slight worry on her face.

“Yeah, I’m going good…” He replied lamely, not really sure how to respond to them.

Byleth has almost never been fussed over, ever. Sothis and Blair were really confident in him and his abilities, trusting that he wouldn’t do anything foolish enough to warrant getting fussed over. His father Jeralt, well he was never one for showing his concern, even if he was worried. They would all smack him on the head if they found out how reckless some of his actions have been as of late.

There were several lawn chairs set up around a fire, even though there were still a good couple of hours until sundown. The trio started to sit down and get comfortable, meaning that there was either a long conversation ahead, or an exhausting one. His brain was telling him that whatever they were going to say couldn’t be good, but his legs told him it was too much effort to even try running away.

“So…” As usual, Annette was the one to break the silence. “Um, how much do you know about Adrestia?” She asked unsurely, a hesitant look in her blue eyes.

Nope, nope nope nope. He was out of there, he could already see the direction of the conversation. He just knew that the conversation was heading down ugly territory.

“Why?” He asked slowly, narrowing his eyes distrustfully.

This time it was Mercedes who spoke up, a slightly uncomfortable look on her face. “Well you see, we were wondering if you could come with us to...”

“Burn down the Adrestian Corp.” The man finished for her, arms crossed over his chest.

The green eyed male was staring deadpanned at the man across from him, wondering how he came to such a ridiculous idea. It would be almost funny, except that the man was utterly serious and looking at him expectantly, awaiting an answer that Byleth had no idea how to give. He looked towards the two women standing behind Dimitri, hoping one of them would come to his rescue. Mercedes, the oldest one if he remembered correctly, was looking at him with a look that was both apologetic and just as expecting as the man who sat across from him. The younger of the three was no help at all, she looked like she _ wanted _to say something, but the slight fear in her eyes when she would look at the back of the blond man always made her stop.

It was up to him he supposed. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, much the same as he would do before a particularly hard fight. It was a fight in a way he guessed, an emotional battle. Those fights he really sucked at, but no one was going to help him.

“No.” Oh god, he could already hear the growl coming.

“What?!” Yep, he called it.

A snarl was already forming, a look of pure anger on the blond man’s face. If he didn’t know any better, he probably would’ve thought that that was just the way his face looked, seeing as how he wore almost no other expression.

“I said no, I don’t have time to go on some wild goose chase across the entire continent.” He allowed himself to sound a little annoyed, because what did they expect him to say to such a crazy ‘plan’?

Geez, going to Adrestia was already bad enough. The risen there were far more powerful than the risen in Leicester and Faerghus, and the closer you got to Enbarr, the more there was. To put the cherry on top, they wanted to storm the Adrestian Corp.? The heart of Enbarr? To go with a group of four was a suicide mission, and that wasn’t even mentioning how Dimitri was the only one who could _ really _ fight out of all of them right now. Byleth was still injured, Mercedes would be useful against anything _ but _ risen, and Annette… she would definitely try. When he said he’d take up a partner, this really wasn’t what he meant. It was bad enough that Dimitri was weirdly obsessed with him.

“If we go as we are now, we’re going to die.” He looked at the one eyed man with a determined expression, hoping that he could come to his senses with some reasoning and logic.

...but who was he kidding? In the short time he’s known Dimitri, he was _ never _sensible.

Just as he was thinking about how Dimitri had zero sense, he was startled by a thoughtful humming sound. When he looked at the blue eyed man, his mouth almost fell open with shock at the almost normal expression on his face. It was the first time he’s seen the man without a scowl or a bored expression. It was kind of scary how normal he could mistake him to be with that kind of expression. It looked like he was actually reflecting on what he said.

“So you’re saying if we had more people, you would come with us willingly?”

Wait, what?

Yeah, that wasn’t even_ close _ to what he said, and Byleth refrained from face palming himself. Also, what’s this about ‘willingly’? He didn’t like the way Dimitri said that, nor the way Mercedes and Annette didn’t correct or stop him. Unbelievable, he could understand Dimitri doing something so stupid, but thought Annette and Mercedes had a bit more sense than that.

“Why are you two going along with his idea?” He normally didn’t voice his concerns, much like his father, but it just baffled him how two responsible and reasonable young ladies could ever agree to something like that.

They at least had the decency to look like scolded children, but Byleth could already tell they weren’t going to change their mind.

“You see, we’ve known Dimitri for a long time…” Mercedes started, ignoring Dimitri’s scoff. “Me and Annie were his old classmates, and he disappeared a long time ago before the apocalypse. Maybe it might sound like weak reasoning, but after losing so many friends and family, we didn’t want to lose him again like we did all those years ago.” The woman finished, not able to look at him.

Surprisingly, Byleth was stunned. He felt a bit terrible to admit it now, but he thought that maybe Dimitri forced them to go with him against their will. It was incredibly relieving to know that they chose to go of their own free will.

“And we thought that maybe if we went with him, we could make sure he doesn’t do anything too crazy?” Annette sheepishly rubbed the back of her head, looking at the ground.

“But I’m still…” what? Hurt? Scared of going back to Adrestia?

…

“I still have to find my sisters, I can’t go with you if they’re not with me.” He settled on instead, cursing himself for forgetting about them.

After a moment of silence, Byleth decided that they weren’t going to try and convince him anymore, so he got ready to stand up.

“Wait.” Came Dimitri’s voice, stopping him from standing.

Curious, Byleth stayed where he was, even if his brain convinced him it was a bad idea.

“What if we found your sisters first? Then would you come with us to Adrestia?”

Checkmate.

Truth be told, Byleth had a lot of good reasons to say yes, but only two good reasons to say no to his proposition. If he tried to make the trip to Fhirdiad alone as he was now, he would die, especially once their unforgiving winter started. If he remembered correctly, he remembered Annette saying they were all from Faerghus. They would probably be able to navigate better than he would, and they would know how to survive the winter. What he really wasn’t too keen on, was bringing them into Adrestia. Blair might be able to hold her own since she was trained under Jeralt for a bit too, but Sothis? She was only thirteen, and had almost zero combat experience. He couldn’t guarantee her safety if he brought her, because he couldn’t even guarantee his own safety right now.

Chewing on his bottom lip, he carefully weighed his options. If he agreed, he’d just give Dimitri another reason to think he owned him, but…

“I’ll come with you to Adrestia, but _ only _ if we get my sisters in Fhirdiad first.” He looked Dimitri in the eye, challenging him to say otherwise, even though he _ was _ the one to come up with the idea in the first place.

The one eyed man smirked at him, amusement written all over his features.

“It’s a deal.” He held out his hand toward Byleth, who reluctantly took it.

Byleth almost gawked at how small his hands looked in comparison to Dimitri’s. It was no wonder he could crack open skulls with just one of them.

“When do we leave?” He asked the trio, trying not to pay attention to how Dimitri didn’t let go of his hand yet, or how he found that he didn’t really mind as much as he should have. He was also trying really hard not to blush at such a simple thing as hand holding. Gosh he almost cringed, holding hands was for lovers, not… them. Okay, that made his mental image even worse.

“We all decided to leave tomorrow at first light.” Mercedes smiled at him enigmatically, an unreadable look on her soft features.

“Oh, if it’s okay with you that is!” Annette chirped at him, the same unreadable look in her eyes, with a smile that was just as enigmatic.

It made him feel strangely bashful, and very confused.

“Yes, so get some rest pr- uh, Byleth.” Dimitri stumbled over his words, correcting himself before anyone could question what he was about to say.

Based on the way Mercedes and Annette’s smiles slightly fell, he would say that they knew _ exactly _what he almost said. Byleth shrugged it off for now, and realized that he was wrong about how many hours of sunlight they had left. It was already dusk, and he could hear hisses and groans in the distance. He also noticed how tired he felt, and just nodded along to whatever Dimitri said.

Perhaps it really was time for him to get some rest. If what they said was true, then they were going to have a long day ahead of them tomorrow. The last thing Byleth wanted, was to be a liability on his own mission. Slightly struggling, he got up ignoring the pain that flared up in his legs and the way his head seemed to spin for a moment. God, it was almost embarrassing how weak he’s gotten. He made a mental note to train twice as hard when he starts getting well enough to stand for more than fifteen minutes at a time.

It was still painful to stand up and walk, but he managed.

On his way to his room in the medical wing, he sluggishly waved at the little messenger kid who was running around the hallway in front of his room. That guy, always doing something or other to keep himself busy…

Byleth rubbed his eyes, and blinked. He had to wonder where this sudden bout of sleepiness came from. Maybe he woke up later than he thought after all, but shouldn’t he feel more awake right now instead of tired? Who was he, Sothis?

Byleth yawned, and collapsed on the floor.

His last thought before closing his eyes was that he really was losing his touch. First getting the time wrong, now collapsing like some damsel in distress. It was a miracle he survived alone this long. For the life of him, he couldn’t stand up.

Maybe it was finally coming back to bite him in the ass after all this time, so much for being the first success.

...or maybe he really was just tired. He’s had injuries in the past before, and they’ve made him lose energy a lot quicker. Maybe he shouldn’t just jump to conclusions because of his own paranoia.

Briefly while he was drifting between consciousness and unconsciousness he thought he heard footsteps running towards him and someone telling him that he’d be all right.

Byleth couldn’t really bring himself to care at the moment, being asleep made you care less about things going on in the real world, y'know?

So sleepy...

_ Byleth was surrounded by fog, and an eerie inky darkness. Slowly the fog started to take the shape of a room, but everything was still made of fog. If it weren’t so scary, he’d wonder if heaven was made of cloud like this. When he reached out to touch a table, his hand went straight through. _

_ Cloudy walls and various other things filled the room. Even without definite shape or colour, the room gave him cold and clinical vibes. It also looked too similar to a room he’d rather never see again. _

_ “How long are you going to continue pretending to sleep dear child?” A man’s voice called out in the strange cloudlike room. _

_ Was that voice calling out to him? _

_ He tried to walk to where he heard the voice, but he couldn’t move. When he looked down at his body, he found that he didn’t have one anymore. It felt like he was there and still had a body, but he didn’t. Footsteps echoed throughout the strange place, and a black misty figure appeared in the space with him. Now Byleth couldn’t actually see him, it was more like a shadowy silhouette, but the sound of his voice and his footsteps were familiar in a rather chilling way. _

_ Sobbing could be heard in the space around them, and Byleth saw another figure curled defensively in a ball in the far corner. This was a young teenager’s silhouette he was seeing, and it was pure white unlike the other occupant of the room. _

_ “No more please…” Came a younger voice, which Byleth presumed came from the white figure. _

_ “Come now sweet child, there is no reason to cry, you are our first successful experiment! Just think of how useful you will be in the future when we purge the world of it’s evil! There is so much you can help us accomplish…” The black shadow was slowly advancing towards the white figure. _

_ Byleth finally recognized this scenario and wanted to wake up. _

_ Was this dream a result of his own fear of going back to Adrestia? _

_ “I don't want to help you, I just want to go home…” The younger person replied quietly to the other male. _

_ They didn’t have facial features, because they were just misty silhouettes, but Byleth remembers the look on the other’s face. It felt cold all of a sudden, and he felt a non existent chill go through his whole body. _

_ “Insolent child! We’ve done _ ** _everything _ ** _ for you, and you mean to throw our kindness away!?” The older man snarled angrily, kicking the white figure who was on the ground. _

_ Byleth felt pain flare up in his stomach again, and cried out in pain, but no sound came out. _

_ Non existent screams were ripped from his throat, and even his own nightmares thought it was too much for him to handle, because the scene slowly disappeared and everything became and foggy and mist like once more. Just like that, he was trapped in the darkness with only mist for company again. _

_ “Byleth, where are you? Byleth, come save us!” Two female voices called out to him in the darkness. _

_ His head shot up, and he tried to go to the direction of the voices, but his body was still gone. _

_ “Byleth, you said you would protect me! But you lied!” Oh god, he knew it was just a dream, but those were the words he was terrified of hearing. _

_ “I’m sorry Blair! I wanted to run away with you, but I couldn’t!” He cried to the darkness, begging for his sister to understand that he had to stay by force, not choice. _

_ “You left me all alone, waiting for you to come back, but you never did...” Not Sothis too, because he would never leave her alone by choice, never by choice… _

_ “Sothis, I’m coming soon, I promise! You too Blair, I promise I’m coming as soon as I can!” _

_ “You’re already too late…” They both said at the same time, and finally Byleth was allowed to move again. _

_ He lifted his head, only to see Blair and Sothis standing before him. He wanted to run to them, and hold them in his arms, but stopped. Both of them were corpses. No, both of them were risen… _

_ They slowly started moving towards him, their eyes were a dull green colour as they stared blankly at him. _

Byleth awoke with a start, sweat running down his forehead. He usually wasn’t one to get so shaken by nightmares, but his own anxiety and paranoia were doing wonders for him. He _ really _didn’t want to go back to Adrestia, but he kind of sold his soul to the devil for his sisters, so he had no choice.

Would his sisters even come with him? Were they still… alive? It was hard to say, phone services and radio stations went down ages ago and he hasn’t really seen or heard from either of his sisters in a long time too. His father’s corpse was nearby, and he had no idea why his father was all the way in Leicester. His mind only came up with two conclusions, a) his father died some time ago on a mission and never made it home and b) his family died while he was gone. He refused to accept option b, no it wasn’t an option, but he refused to accept it all the same. Blair could hold her own, and she wouldn’t let anything happen to Sothis...right?

A pained expression made its way on Byleth’s face.

He missed the good old days when the only thing he had to worry about was if his crush liked him back.

Although on a completely unrelated note, how was he in his own bed again? He felt his face puff up in annoyance.

“Dammit Dimitri…”

He knew no one else among the survivors was capable of lifting him up, not to mention Dimitri wouldn’t _ let _anyone among the survivors even try. Not that he wanted people coming up to him and trying to pick him up all the time either, but still.

Seeing as how he was awake, and there was no way he was going back to sleep after that dream, he figured he might as well start his day. Sitting up, he noticed that even though his stomach still hurt, it felt mostly tolerable. If closed his eyes and pretended long enough, he could even pretend that hunger was the reason his stomach hurt, not the result of almost being crushed by a piece of building.

Looking outside the slightly dirty window in his room, he saw that the sun hasn’t come out yet and sighed. It was just _ so _lucky that he managed to wake up when the risen were at their worst. It was another lucky bonus that there wasn’t a flashlight or candle nearby, because it was so much better for the cripple to get ready for his journey in the dark. Can you hear the sarcasm?

Standing up, he tried to fumble around for the door, but almost fell. He tried again, and found the door this time. Opening it, he stepped out of the room and headed to where Mercedes said they were keeping his things. He never really knew why they let him keep everything but his weapons. Maybe it was a trust thing? Can’t say he blames them if it is.

As he walked out of the building, he saw the first rays of sunlight peeking over the horizon. The sunrise was a beautiful thing to watch, it was the only beautiful thing he could keep to himself back in Adrestia. When they took everything from him, he always had the sunrise to remind him that the darkness doesn’t last forever. It was warm, fiery, and it filled him with hope. Even now, it made him feel calmer and more relaxed.

It gave him the confidence he needed to face the journey he was about to go on. He supposed there wouldn’t be any more odd jobs for him for a long time. That was fine, he could do this.

No one would get in the way of him seeing his family, not even himself this time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading another chapter of The Walking Risen (lmao xD I might just change the title to that, lemme know what you think)  
Next time:
> 
> "You don't know if they're alive?!"
> 
> "Well..." Byleth suddenly found the ground really interesting to look at.
> 
> "Um... intuition?"


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's not always black and white

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey I made another chapter! :D
> 
> EDIT: So I was working on the next chapter and realized I forgot to update the tags! For anyone who couldn't tell, this is gonna be a long and angsty ride. :O I don't want to risk triggering readers, so I'll put anything that requires a warning outside the tags in the notes from now on

This really wasn’t what he imagined when setting when he set out on this journey, actually, he thought he might be able to escape this sort of behavior.

“Dimitri put me down.” He said for the thousandth time. He mainly bothered asking out of boredom at this point, because he didn’t expect the tall blond to actually listen to him anymore.

“No.” Dimitri’s responses were less aggressive at this point too, because he was obviously getting tired of Byleth’s question too.

The first time he asked, Dimitri had snarled at him and held him tighter out of spite. After about a good five hours into their journey, he simply started saying no instead. Mercedes and Annette gave him constant apologetic looks the first couple of times, but stopped later too. Really now, this was supposed to be _ his _ mission, why the hell was he being carried around like a sack of potatoes? Byleth mentally huffed at the man holding him, kicking him for the thousandth time out of pettiness. He stopped feeling bad some time ago too, because the wannabe pirate didn’t even blink when he kicked him. Byleth preferred to think that it was because Dimitri was a pretty solid guy, and _ not _because he was weak. He may not be the best hand-to-hand combat guy around, but he could still do more than make someone raise an eyebrow at his kicks.

This was getting old really fast.

He couldn’t see _ anything _ over Dimitri’s shoulder, and Mercedes and Annette were too busy talking to each other to clue him in. Byleth half hoped that a risen would pop out of nowhere, if only because he knew that the bastard would finally put him down. Seeing as how he had nothing else to do, his eyes were wandering and trying to take in the sights. All he saw was broken sidewalk, broken street lamps, broken buildings, and a not-broken road. There were some cars around too, but Byleth wasn’t great at hot wiring and fuel was even harder to come by than weapons. The next thing he saw was Mercedes lightly panting and Annette giving her worried looks. He looked at the duo, and gave them a silently questioning look. Annette mouthed the word tired at him, and he suddenly noticed that she was right. There was a slight tremor in her steps, and she was lightly sweating. Come to think of it, they _ have _ been on the road for some time.

“Hey Dimitri,” Byleth kicked Dimitri again, earning a light growl. “I think we should rest for the night…” Byleth felt Dimitri stop.

“Are you tired?” He heard the man ask him, and Byleth wanted to say, “Actually no. I find it really hard to get tired from being carried around.” but when he saw Mercedes gave him a hopeful look, all he could do was sigh.

“Yeah…” He deadpanned. “I’m pretty tired…” He said in an equally dead tone, hoping that his sarcasm wasn’t detectable by Dimitri. Just his luck, actual luck this time and not sarcasm, Dimitri seemed to consider it.

“Hmph. I guess we’ll find somewhere to stay for now.” With that, he dropped Byleth as if he was never even holding him

Byleth was far too grateful that Dimitri even put him down to be upset about the fact he was just dropped. He started walking and immediately noticed a difference from being carried. He could see everything, and he was in control of his own movements. He didn’t want to sound like a rebellious teenager, but it felt so freeing! He was so happy he wasn’t being carried around, he almost wanted to consider smiling.

He looked back at his female companions, and saw Mercedes give him a grateful smile. Annette also looked relieved and it was then that Byleth realized something; does Dimitri ever get tired? As far as he can recall, the man never slept and he was carrying him this whole way, surely it must’ve been taxing? If Dimitri really does have a much higher stamina reserve than the three of them, he can probably go for days at a time without needing to rest. That meant it was up to Byleth to make sure that the rest of them weren’t driven to the point of exhaustion since Dimitri doesn’t care to pay attention to the group morale.

A loud crack and a hiss made him halt his train of thought, and the green eyed man almost swore.

Dimitri stiffened, and Byleth immediately went to an alert stance.

The only time he got to stand up, and risen had to come, damnit! He wasn’t _ serious _ when he said he wanted a risen to come!

“Annette, Mercedes, Byleth, stay back.” Dimitri commanded the others without even looking at them.

Byleth wanted to scoff at him, because he wasn’t completely incapable of defending himself, he could still shoot them if they came too close. Out of everyone in the group, he was the most capable of fighting, he didn’t need protecting and he sure as hell didn’t _ want _ it either. Well, his injuries aren’t fully healed yet, but that hardly made him useless! Jeralt would’ve _ never _doubted for a second that even in his current state, that he could hold his own! You don’t get a reputation like his by being a pushover.

Three risen appeared from the side of a house, and if Byleth had to guess, he would say they used to live there. It made his heart ache to see a child among them. Byleth mourned the loss of such a young person who had to die in such a terrible way, that he actually had to look away. Yes, he used to be an assassin, but he never enjoyed killing, and it was never easy for him. Most of his targets involved people who held political sway, people who’ve done unforgivable deeds, and even people who couldn’t bare living anymore.

Byleth tuned out the world as he remembered the first time somebody asked him to kill them…

_ A young teal haired teen observed an old man on a hospital bed, watching as the man twisted and turned in agony. _

_ “Please, I’m begging you! Please kill me!” The tormented face looked at him desperately, hair disheveled, and eyes wide. _

_ He looked to him, no remorse, and no pity to be found on his emotionless face. _

_ “What do you have to offer for my services?” He asked dispassionately, seemingly bored. _

_ The man for all his desperation, still had a clear enough head to look at him funnily. “What do you mean? Have you no heart!? I would rather _ ** _ die_ ** _ than continue living with this illness and pain!” He sobbed at him, eyes pleading. _

_ Byleth looked at him again, his expression giving away nothing. “What do you have to offer for my services?” He asked again, seemingly unfazed with the man’s pleading. _

_ The man’s eyes became dulled over, hopelessness settling on his mature and aged face. “For one so young, you sure do lack humanity… You can’t even grant an old man’s dying wish…” _

_ A loud hacking sound was heard after that, and the man’s features twisted in extreme pain. Byleth’s facade cracked just a tiny bit, but he refused to let it show. The man started heaving, and he just couldn’t bear to watch anymore, so he turned around and started to leave. _

_ “W-wait…” A raspy voice called out to him, effectively making Byleth stop. _

_ The young teenager turned around curiously, wondering what the old man could want now. _

_ “All I can offer is this…” He held up a professionally crafted black combat knife that had an intricate design on it’s handle. _

_ Byleth took a few steps closer to the old man, and unknowingly looked at him with curiosity filled blue eyes. This caused the man to smile, a sad and mournful look in his wisdom filled eyes. _

_ “This was my father’s knife… He’s long gone now, but he gave this to me before he passed away. He said his best friend gave it to him in the thirty-year war just before he died…” The old man started tearing up as he continued. “I don’t have any kids or grand kids, and all my friends are long gone too… So I ask one more time, can you help out an old man?” He asked him, his eyes holding a different kind of desperation in them now. _

_ With a quivering bottom lip and a hardened heart, he hesitantly nodded his head. _

_ The old man looked so happy, and he had such a joyous look on his face, that Byleth had to feel somewhat happy for him too. The man weakly lifted his arm and handed over the knife to Byleth, who shakily took it. The man smiled at him, and he took out his gun from the side of his leg. _

_ Out of an assassin’s instinct, all emotions disappeared from his face as he took aim at his head. _

_ “Before you do, I have a question lad, what’s your name?” He smiled at him once more. _

_ Byleth hesitated. Names weren’t given away to targets, it made it more personal, more hard for the assassin. Even though that was rule number one, he couldn’t bring himself to deny the old man for a third time. _

_ “Byleth…” He answered in a soft voice, trying not to it shake or tremble too much. _

_ “I see… Th-thank you Byleth…” _

_ With that out of the way, Byleth shot before it became even harder for him. _

_ When he heard the man fall against the headboard, he felt himself sink to his knees. A small and delicate looking hand went to pull at his hair as he took shaky breaths, trying not to let it get to him. He’s never felt so… so… sad on a mission before. Most of his targets beg to be spared, not killed. Most of his clients had him kill someone bad, they didn’t ask to be killed. Assassin’s only killed bad people, right? _

_ But that man wasn’t bad, he didn’t deserve to die… _

_ But he wanted it, he reminded himself. Even so, he still refused to accept it, because he didn’t deserve to die. But if he didn’t kill him… _

_ His other hand went to pull at his hair, and he scrunched his eyes tightly shut. Thinking about it made him feel even worse. This went against _ ** _everything _ ** _the others_ _told him... _

_ He couldn’t bring him bring himself to move, and just stared lifelessly at the hospital bed. He never felt so lost before. Everyone always told him he was much too serious and mature for his age, but right now, he just felt like a lost child. Even as the sun was starting to rise, he only barely managed to escape the hospital before anyone could catch him, making sure to grab the knife on his way out. _

_ He cradled the knife like it was a precious baby, and vowed to take good care of it. _

_ In the end, he decided that it was crueler to let people live such a painful life than it was to kill them. If anything, he was being merciful to the old man. _

_ He clutched the knife tighter as he thought that, able to see through his own lie. He knew he only thought that so he could feel less horrible about actually doing it. Looking at the knife in his hands, he could see the old man’s smile haunting him and he doubted it would ever go away. Is this what his father meant when he said killing wasn’t easy? Maybe it was heartless, but he didn’t care for the lives he took in the past, because those people were bad, but even those people… Those people had someone who would miss them, maybe he took people away from their families, or killed innocents who didn’t know any better… _

_ At the young age of thirteen, Byleth had a revelation; There was no good, or bad. _

_ He finally understood what his father had been trying to tell him this whole time. _

Remembering morals was a really bad thing to do in an apocalyptic environment, because morals wouldn’t be of any use in a world where only the strong who are willing to kill can hope to survive.

He must’ve zoned out or something, because he saw two corpses on the ground. Something was wrong though, and he couldn’t put his finger on it…

Wait, wasn’t there supposed to be three corpses?

“Byleth!” Annette screeched, trying to run over to save him.

Byleth’s mouth fell open in a silent gasp when he felt blunt nails digging into his bad leg. Everything suddenly felt like it was in slow motion, he turned his head around to look at what was hurting him, and saw the child - no risen - that appeared from out of the house with the other two. For all his complaining earlier, he couldn’t bring himself to take his gun out and shoot it down. Eventually, he fell down and bit his lip to stop himself from crying out. The child-turned risen opened its mouth wide and was about to clamp its jaw down on his leg, but a loud and booming roar made the risen stop in place.

The next thing he saw was a blur of blue and black rush in front of him, using his right arm to fling the risen back several meters away. The little girl - no, risen damnit! - made a pained noise and started to sloppily stand again. Dimitri slowly and menacingly made his way over to it, Byleth could only see his back, so he couldn’t tell what kind of expression he was making.

He saw him pick her up by the neck and hoist her into the air and it was hissing and clawing at his hand. He could tell Dimitri wanted to make it as slow as possible by the extremely slow way his hand was tightening. As the small risen seemed to understand that it was in danger, it bit into the towering blond’s hand. The blue eyed man swore and threw her like a rag doll into the ground. Byleth winced at the sound of a shattering spine, and realized just how strong the man in front of him was.

A gurgled cry came from the risen’s throat. Dimitri was breathing heavily, and looked at the risen with a look of pure rage.

For once in all his twenty-six years of living, Byleth felt terrified. His eyes widened in horror as he looked at the ma- no, monster in front of him. 

A wide and disturbing smile was on the blond’s face as he climbed on top of the risen, straddling it and clasping his hands together. Byleth wanted to look away a what was happening, but fear kept him frozen in place. With that same twisted grin, he raised his hands in the air and smashed them back down like a sledgehammer. The sound it made was absolutely revolting, like a cockroach getting crushed on a sidewalk. Even the pavement couldn’t stand up to Dimitri’s might as it cracked under the blond’s brute strength.

Dimitri looked to him, like a puppy waiting for a belly rub, and Byleth wanted to throw up. It wasn’t so much that Dimitri just brutally slaughtered a risen, it was that he did it without any hesitation and as painfully as he possibly could. Perhaps the scariest part, was that somehow the mint-haired man knew that he would’ve done it all over again, even if the little girl had been alive. It scared him that he could kill them all, and they wouldn’t be able to do anything. He now understood why Annette always looked so terrified of upsetting him.

When he saw the man started to walk over to him, he sat up and crawled backwards until his back hit a streetlamp.

“Um, Dimitri!” Annette meekly called out to the brute of a man.

When said man turned to look at her, all words died in her throat. When Mercedes, god bless that woman, took notice of the situation, she intervened. “Dimitri, now that the risen are cleared out, let’s stay in this house for the night so I can tend to his injuries.” Byleth realized that Mercedes was actually a very smart woman.

Dimitri looked at her for a minute, and nodded his head.

“Good! Can you please make sure there aren’t anymore risen in there? We wouldn’t Byleth getting hurt again…” She requested to the younger man, knowing exactly how to get him to listen to her. Call it manipulation if you want, but it was effective.

The blond man had a look of determination on his face as he walked inside the house, likely looking to eliminate any lingering ‘rats’. Once the man was inside, the two women knelt down on the pavement on each side of Byleth.

“Are you oka-?”

Annette was cut off as Byleth whispered quietly. “No, I’m not okay…”

“We know, we saw it too…” Mercedes replied gently.

“But Dimitri-” Again, Annette was cut short.

“_ How _ can you defend that _ monster!? _ He could kill us all, and we’d be lucky if we could even _ try _to run away!” He raised his voice at her, making the ginger haired woman wince.

“We’re not defending what he did!” Annette replied angrily, then calming down again. “Look, w-we know that he’s… kinda, unhinged, okay?”

Mercedes nodded her head at the younger woman’s words, confirming that they were true. “It’s true, Dimitri wasn’t always like this.”

Byleth looked at them as if they’d grown three heads.

“In our high school days, he was the sweetest and most sincere soul. He always held open doors for ladies, and volunteered at a retirement home.”

Annette nodded her head furiously, “That’s true! He treated me like I was his very own little sister! He helped me study, and gave me the courage to tell my crush how I felt!” Her face was burning red at this point, but she was too worked up to stop. “...it turns out he was gay…” She rubbed the back of her head a bit sheepishly, and then continued going. “...but! You know who was there to lend me a shoulder to cry on? Dimitri!”

Byleth looked unconvinced, but didn’t try to otherwise stop them.

“We know that what Dimitri does isn’t good, but we want to help him come back to us.” Mercedes said quietly, and Byleth finally noticed how tired and hopeless she felt.

“How? He sounds too far gone…” Byleth whispered, hugging his knees to his chest.

“I guarantee you that if we can find Edelgard, Dedue, Ashe, Ingrid, Felix and Sylvain, we could get through to him.” Mercedes replied, reaching for his hand.

“...but I don’t know those people, or how to find them.”

“If they’re still alive, we know where to go. Did you forget that me and Annie here are no strangers to Faerghus?”

He looked up and saw them smiling reassuringly at him.

“...but I still want to find my sisters.” He protested.

“You still can. On our way to Fhidiad, you can distract Dimitri so Mercie and I can make little detours.”

“...but I don’t know if they’re still alive.” He admitted.

“You don’t know if they’re alive?!”

"Well..." Byleth suddenly found the ground really interesting to look at.

"Um... intuition?"

Annette’s shoulders sank slightly and she made an exasperated face. Byleth felt himself get sheepish, and he felt a bit lighter now that the mood wasn’t do or die anymore. But there was still something he wanted to ask them.

Finally the question he _ really _wanted to ask, “Why me?”

“Because he’s unnaturally obsessive over you.”

The two women looked at each other and spoke a silent language only they could understand. “We know you don’t _ have _to, but can’t you help us out?” Mercedes pleaded.

_ The old man started tearing up as he continued. “I don’t have any kids or grand kids, and all my friends are long gone too… So I ask one more time, can you help out an old man?” He asked him, his eyes holding a different kind of desperation in them now. _

_ With a quivering bottom lip and a hardened heart, he hesitantly nodded his head. _

“As long as we get my sisters.” He mumbled.

A thought hit him and he suddenly had to voice it.

“Why is he so obsessed with me?”

Mercedes had a guilty look on her face, and she looked away. 

“You see…” Annette started. “You look _ really s _-”

“The house is cleared.” A deep voice called out to them, making Annette’s eyes widen and Mercedes flinch.

_ Wait, no! He looked really what? What was Annette about to say?? _

“O-of course. Let’s get you inside then, don’t want you catching a cold.” Annette laughed awkwardly.

Dimitri walked up to the trio and lifted Byleth bridal style into the house. The green eyed man tried not to think too hard about how Dimitri was lifting him with bloody hands, or how he much he wanted to run away. Try as he might, he couldn’t help but notice the bite mark on his hand.

_ He could tell Dimitri wanted to make it as slow as possible by the extremely slow way his hand was tightening. As the small risen seemed to understand that it was in danger, it bit into the towering blond’s hand. The blue eyed man swore and threw her like a rag doll into the ground. _

That’s right, Dimitri was bitten…

Was it bad that he wanted to use that as an excuse to shoot him?

“I can assure you I won’t get infected.” The blond said boredly.

Not get infected? Was that even-?

Byleth felt himself getting put down on a slightly broken couch, and hissed in pain.

“You have a question…” Dimitri sat down next to the couch with a plop, “So ask.” He glared at the green eyed man

“How can you _ not _ get infected?” He asked him, ignoring the glare.

Dark laughter filled the room, and Byleth tried not to throw himself out a window and _ away _from the crazy man.

“Do you need proof?” He stood up while still laughing, and took off his shirt.

What Byleth saw made him far too shocked to even ogle all the muscle on the other man. There were several bites on his torso, and one on his shoulder, and they were all old too. But he’s never met anyone who was immune…

“How…?

The man looked at him for a long time, and Byleth figured he wouldn’t say anything, but Dimitri was full of surprises today.

“Some sick people…” He said bitterly, snarling at the ground.

It took just one moment for a lot of pieces to come clicking together, but he finally understood. Suddenly, Dimitri didn’t look like a monster anymore, but a lost and heavily misguided person. It was sad to see how much revenge could change a person. He mourned the loss of a boy he never even knew.

Burn down the Adrestian corp.?

He thought it sounded like nothing more than a laughable childish fantasy, because _ he _ fantasized about it too. Yet he was so happy to even escape, he left it at that and didn’t dare to hope for anything more. He was there for _ years _before he could get away, and all this time....

“Did they… Do things to you too?” He asked quietly, carefully watching the other’s face.

The man stopped glaring at the floor, and turned to look at him with a blue eye widened in genuine surprise. There was also something else there, and even though Byleth wasn’t an emotional genius, he could tell there was some long hidden sadness there if his slightly wet blue eye was anything to go by. It felt like time stopped for a moment, and _ just _ for that moment, he could see what Annette and Mercedes were talking about. Just for a moment, he could see the _ real _ Dimitri…

...but then that moment ended.

The blond man looked away and growled, stomping outside the house. All Byleth could do was watch him, a foreign feeling that he couldn’t identify pulling at his heart.

“Do you see now?” Mercedes asked him quietly, leaning against the wall in the entrance hallway.

Byleth numbly nodded, that strange feeling coming back to him.

What was it he felt at that moment? Why did he feel sympathy? Dimitri is _ still _ unhinged and could _ still _kill them all without even blinking, but…

He could still be saved too and as ironic as it might be for an assassin to say this, he believed in second chances.

“Mercedes, who were those people you said could help us again?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, I was almost content with that chapter! :,) What did you think?  
Next time on The Risen Dead:
> 
> "Damnit! Let me help!" He glared stubbornly at the taller man, refusing to back down.
> 
> "You can't."
> 
> Byleth glared angrily at him, and stormed off with his gun in hand. 'You can't.' My ass! Byleth angrily thought. He would show him once and for all that he wasn't useless!


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Soooo... like a good majority of this chapter is pure angst. Don't worry though, there's a little bit of fun at the end! :D

_ “Did they… Do things to you too?” _

Yes, they did _ horrible _ things to him. What they did was beyond unforgivable, it was cruel! It wasn’t _ just _ experiments either, there were some disgusting beasts who thought it would be nice to take advantage of his body in… _ other _ways.

...but Dimitri was so shocked that the green eyed man could see through him, he felt himself wanting to cry. For the first time ever, he just wanted to break down and tell somebody everything he’s been bottling up inside himself for the past nine years. He never knew that someone else could know how he felt, and he never would’ve expected it from Byleth of all people. For a second, he just wanted to cry and hold the man tightly, but he stopped himself.

When did he become Byleth to him? When did he stop being a tool, stop being a stand in for-

Dimitri growled and looked away, angry at himself. Truth was, he was angry at himself a lot, but he didn’t know why he mad at himself _ now. _ Still, he was mad and went stomping outside to look for some risen to help him burn off some steam.

In order to burn down the Adrestian corp. couldn’t afford to think of him as anything more than a tool, at least that’s what he thought at first. He continued to justify his over protectiveness and obsessive behaviour as him making sure his little weapon wouldn’t get damaged for the big battle. Every time he held him, every time he killed another risen who would threaten his safety, he would tell himself it was just to keep his weapon sharp.

The blond was walking, ignoring the stinging in his hand. The venom wouldn’t infect him, it never did, so there was no reason to be bothered with it. If anything, he hoped the scent of his blood would attract risen.

“How long are you going to stray away from avenging us?” A voice whispered in his ear, and Dimitri stiffened.

The voices were always loudest when he was alone, and he had forgotten about that. He turned around, and saw the ghosts that haunted him.

“I’m not-” He was cut off by his father’s ghost, Lambert glaring at him with hatred.

“Don’t lie! You’re going to Faerghus! That’s not even _ close _to Enbarr!” The spector shouted at him.

“Heh, of course the boar only thinks about himself... “ Felix snarled at him, his eyes narrowed.

“How could you forget about us Dimitri?” Ingrid cried angrily at him.

No, he didn’t forget…

“I promise, I’ll burn that filthy place down!” He fell to his knees, holding his hands over his ears and clamping his eyes shut.

“You’ve been distracted master Blaiddyd…” Dedue spoke up disapprovingly.

He shook his head no frantically, tears falling down his face. He wasn’t distracted, he was just getting more people to make it easier…

“Oh, so you think you _deserve _easy your_ highness?_” Sylvain mocked him, sneering at him.

“This would never have happened if you’d just left that weakling behind...” Ashe said condescendingly, and Dimitri snapped.

“** _ENOUGH!_ **” He roared at them as loudly and authoritatively as he could.

There were no more words after that, and when Dimitri looked up, he was alone again. Just to be sure, he looked around and still, there was no one to be found. He shakily pushed some hair out of his face, and started taking deep breaths. They never left him alone before, and he felt too uneasy and shaken to relax.

He looked back at the house he left behind, and wondered if it had anything to do with the people inside there. For once, he was grateful to have his… _ friends. _ The word felt foreign to him and he had to wonder how long it’s been since he had any. Even Byleth was his… friend. He frowned at how weird it was to imagine him and Byleth as friends. After all, the other man made it clear _ many _times how much he hated him. He never blamed him for it really, because he doubted anyone could hate him more than himself.

If he was being honest, he was scared that they might leave him one day. So scared that he never slept in case they decided that they’d leave when he finally fell asleep. After so long of being alone, he couldn’t live that way anymore… If Mercedes and Annette left him, he might just break down, and if Byleth left him… he’d kill himself…

He wasn’t a complete fool, he knew he couldn’t march into Adrestia on his own. If Byleth left him, he couldn’t burn that building down and what would be worth living for anymore? Maybe it was selfish, but he’d rather Byleth hate him and stay, than be happy and go live with others who weren’t damaged and broken like he was. He would rather keep Byleth with him if it meant he had to hold him back by a chain, than let him go with people who could love him and give him all the freedom he so wanted. When the apocalypse started, he realized the only thing he was good for was killing. Even though it kept them alive, he never saw the others look grateful, not once… If anything, they looked horrified and disgusted…

Even Byleth, for all his stoicness, looked at him like he was a beast.

Dimitri leaned against one of the houses in the neighborhood, and looked to the setting sun. There was something beautiful about the sun when it started to set, and if he didn’t break the paintbrushes every time he tried, he would paint a picture of it.

Dimitri reached his hand toward the sky, trying to capture some of that light before the sun fully set and left him alone too. But alas, it didn’t work, it never worked…

_ He really hated himself... _

* * *

It’s been almost a week since ‘the incident’, as Mercedes dubbed it.

In that time, Dimitri let him walk on his own from time to time, which he was extremely grateful for. It turns out that the injury Byleth got from that little girl -risen thing- wasn’t even that bad. As a matter of fact, it's already started healing up and Mercedes said that it’ll just make his overall recovery slightly slower in that leg, but he should be fine for the most part.

Byleth still thought of what happened on that day, and realized he had no idea how to bring the blond back again. What happened was pure luck and guesswork on Byleth’s part, and _ Dimitri _ wasn’t going to initiate anything. As a matter of fact, he became _ more _ distant, and Byleth wanted to scream in frustration. He thought he’d made progress, and then _ this _ happened…

The only bright side, was that they were finally almost out of Myrddin. He was done with the aquatic city, and he didn’t want to go back anytime soon. He was so glad they had no plans to go to Derdriu. The only good thing about places like that, was the abundance of fresh drinking water and all the buildings that were untouched. Everyone agreed to go raiding for supplies before they left the city, and stock up on water since they were running low. He was keeping his fingers crossed that he could find some useful weapons, and maybe even enough that he could give some to his travelling female companions.

Of course that was wishful thinking, but dreaming never hurt.

“Hey, that looks like a good place!” Annette pointed at a building a few blocks away.

The green eyed man nodded. It _ did _look like a good place, but not for what he wanted. Oh well, they’d probably find food there at least.

“Let’s go.” Dimitri said coldly, not waiting for them to reply as he started walking towards it.

The group walked in relative silence, and Byleth normally liked silence, but it felt too much like Dimitri was brushing them off. He frowned, and looked at the towering blond’s back. He had never noticed it before, but had Dimitri _ always _ felt so out of reach?

The more houses and buildings they passed, the more he felt like he’d go crazy. He never thought there’d come a time where he’d actually _ miss _ it when Dimitri was overly clingy, because at least then he could actually _ try _to guess what he was thinking. He wasn’t sure how to deal with this situation, and he didn’t know Dimitri enough to even know where to start.

When they stopped in front of the building, he read the sign he couldn’t see when they were all the way back there. It read, ‘Gloucester & Ordelia Supermarket’.

“Gloucester and Ordelia…” He heard Annette mutter.

He turned around to see the two women wear identical sad expressions. “Is something wrong?” He asked them, a slight frown marring his features.

“Uh no, not really…” Annette replied quietly.

“It’s just…” Mercedes tried to continue for her, but found herself unable to.

Now Byleth was really concerned if even Mercedes couldn’t say anything.

“Those names belonged to some of our old schoolmates, Lorenz Hellman Glouscester and Lysithea Von Ordelia.” Dimitri replied for them without even looking at him.

A light bulb blinked in Byleth’s head as understanding finally dawned on him. Of _ course _ they were sad, they probably haven’t heard from them in years. But if their names are appearing in Myrddin…

“Are they nearby?” He found himself asking, before he could realize the words were out of his mouth.

“Haven’t you ever studied before? They could be anywhere… Gloucester and Ordelia were among some of Leicester’s most influential families, so their names along with countless others are probably scattered throughout all of Leicester…” Mercedes said mournfully.

“But Gloucester and Ordelia territory are the closest places to Myrddin…” He argued back.

“If we go to Ordellia territory right now, we’ll have to turn around, even if it _ is _close to Myrddin. Let’s not forget that Myrddin is Leicester’s second biggest city after Derdriu.” Annette replied defensively, a slight scowl on her features.

“What if we make a pit stop at Gloucester on our way to Fhirdiad, and go through Ordelia territory on our way back?” Mercedes proposed.

Actually, that wasn’t a bad idea.

“That sounds good to me.”

“Well… Alright.” Annette gave in.

“That’s great! After we’re-”

“No.” Came a firm voice.

Three heads turned to look at a glaring blond who was narrowing his blue eye icily at them.

“But-”

“I said no.” Dimitri snapped at them, his eye screaming danger now.

“Okay then, I guess me and Annie will go inside to look for anything useful. Why don’t you and Byleth stand guard?” Mercedes grabbed Annette’s wrist and turned to look at Byleth with a look that said, “Convince him.”

How on earth was he supposed to do that?

Before the two were inside, Byleth grabbed Mercedes’ hand to get her to stop. “In case there’s anything in there, take this…” He gave her his gun, and she nodded.

Once the two were inside, he heard Dimitri speak up to him, “Why did you do that?” he asked dispassionately.

“Because they had no way of defending themselves.” The mint haired man replied simply.

“And what of you? How are you going to protect yourself?”

Byleth thought over his answer, and what Mercedes ‘told’ him. If he played his cards right, he could convince him easy. Time to pull out his rusty conversation skills and the good old charm. ... And also time to put away the pride. Did he ever mention that assassins had the _best _education?

“I have _ you, _ don’t I?” He peeked through his eyelashes at the blue eyed man, an innocently confused look in his green depths.

One thing people didn’t know about Byleth was that he was an extraordinary actor when he wanted to be, although like he said earlier, he _ was _pretty rusty. It’s been ages since he had to use those skills, but they should do the trick.

“...” Dimitri said nothing and looked away, but Byleth caught a blush on his face.

“You’ll protect me, right?” He pouted at him, and Byleth tried not to think about how awkward he felt.

Dimitri’s head snapped back to him, and he growled lightly. “Of _ course _ I’ll protect you!”

Byleth could also feel himself slightly blushing, and was starting to lose control of the situation. The way Dimitri said that was just _ so _aggressive. This felt way too much like role playing...

Dimitri smirked at the light flush, and took a few steps toward the now furiously blushing green eyed male. Every step he took closer to the shorter male, the darker the blush got, until they both hit the outer wall of the supermarket. What the actual _ fuck _ was going on?! Byleth was mentally screaming in his head, not anticipating this at _ all. _ He thought some light seduction and a couple of strokes to his ego would do the trick, but he was _ not _ expecting whatever was happening, or the butterflies in his stomach when Dimitri got closer to him.

He really put himself in a tough spot, didn’t he?

“Uh…” He tried to speak, but felt too awkward to get the words out.

Dimitri didn’t seem to notice his internal panicking and his eye roamed all over Byleth’s face, taking in the sight. Byleth felt himself trembling, but he couldn’t say if it was from fear or… something else. Whatever it was, he could work with this. Sure, it wasn’t how he planned it, but he could make Dimitri think he was in charge and then casually suggest Mercedes’ plan, right?

Dimitri lifted one of his hands to Byleth’s face, and lifted his chin up. The green eyed man gulped, and tried to gain control of the situation again.

“You’re beautiful…” Dimitri leaned close to his face, and whispered against his forehead.

Byleth felt himself freeze at the words, and his heart felt like it was pounding a mile a minute, even though he knew it didn’t beat anymore. Was it possible for his face to burn this much? How the hell was he supposed to respond to that?! Thankfully (or not, because he’ll see why later), Dimitri’s hand dropped and he replied _ for _ him.

“...much too beautiful for a beast like me. I know exactly what you’re doing, but just ask next time instead of playing with me.” He whispered just as quietly with hurt lacing his tone, and Byleth felt incredibly guilty and also incredibly sad at those words.

What must it have looked like to Dimitri? The person he obsesses over finally coming to like him back, just to find out it wasn’t real. Most importantly…_ Why _ did he feel guilty?! And why was he sympathizing with him? Before, he _ hated _Dimitri, what changed?

“Dimitri, I’m sorr-”

“_ Are _ you?” He snapped back, trapping the mint haired man between his arms.

Byleth felt his bottom lip quivering, but no tears came.

“Do you even _ care _ about what I feel? Or does this _ beast _ not have feelings to you?!” He roared, a hurt look in eye.

So _ that’s _ what it looked like to him. He never really thought about what Dimitri saw him as to be so possessive over him, but now he knew it wasn’t just a means to an end. As bad as it might seem, he really _ didn’t _ think about Dimitri’s feelings, or that he _ had _any outside of anger and that brief glimpse he saw earlier. He messed up badly, didn’t he?

“Stop calling yourself a _ beast! _” He snapped back, his eyes slightly wet, but again, tears refused to fall.

If Dimitri wanted to go with him, then they were gonna fucking _ go. _

“That’s what I am!” He growled back.

“No you’re not!”

“Really? That’s rich coming from _ you! _ ” Dimitri laughed, tears falling from his eye. “I heard what you said that day, what was it again? ‘ _ How _ can you defend that _ monster!? _ He could kill us all, and we’d be lucky if we could even _ try _to run away!’ was that it?” He imitated Byleth’s voice.

It was at that moment he knew, he fucked up.

Byleth’s blood ran cold, and his mouth fell open in shock. “That’s not fair Dimitri…” Byleth said quietly, his voice was trembling.

“Why not?” He sneered.

“Because! You’ve done _ horrible _ things to everyone! You’ve treated me like an object, when you of _ all _ people should know why I can’t stand it! You constantly yell at us and ignore us! You don’t even _ attempt _to listen to us, and you’re so hellbent on chasing an impossible pipe dream!” He exploded, finally letting out all that pent up frustration. “But I’m trying to give you a chance! Why can’t you do the same for me?!” He shouted at him, a tear finally falling.

Dimitri looked stunned for a minute, and finally replied to him. “I-”

Groaning was heard in different directions, and Dimitri protectively moved Byleth behind him. Byleth wanted to groan too, because what a_ perfect _ time to interrupt. Just when he thought he was _ finally _getting somewhere.

“Stay back.” Dimitri commanded him.

“No, let me help.” Byleth glared, even though the other couldn’t see it, wiggling his way out from behind Dimitri.

“I said stay back.” He whispered dangerously, narrowing his eyes at him.

"Damnit! Let me help!" He glared stubbornly at the taller man, refusing to back down.

"You can't."

Byleth glared angrily at him, and stormed off with his gun in hand. 'You can't.' My ass! Byleth angrily thought. He would show him once and for all that he wasn't useless!

...except that he didn’t have his gun anymore.

_ Fuck. _

“See?” Dimitri said to him.

“I still want to help…” He mumbled.

Dimitri seemed to think it over, and passed him a black combat knife.

_ The green eyed man held in a scream of pain, and settled for hissing instead. He clutched his shoulder tightly, and dropped his knife in the process. _

_ Of all the times to get distracted… _

_ Byleth couldn't believe he'd made such a rookie mistake. _

_ When two more risen came, he tried to slash at them, but ended up punching one in the face instead. He inwardly cursed at both his stupidity, and the pain now flaring in his hand. The worst part was probably that he wasn't a very good brawler, and the most the risen did was stumble a step or two backwards. _

_ The man frantically looked on the ground for his knife, but couldn't keep his eyes on the ground very long because the other risen was now too close for comfort. _

_ He pulled out his handgun and fired a shot at it's head, and immediately went to find cover. _

“That’s my knife…” He said a little breathlessly, recognizing the professional quality and the designs on the handle.

“Are you going to take it?” Dimitri sneered.

Byleth wordlessly nodded, as he was still a little stunned, and took the knife from him, relaxing ever so slightly at the familiar weight in his hand.

The two took defensive stances at the entrance to guard the girls who were still inside, both silently agreed to save their conversation for another time. Even though Byleth may have been the only one with a weapon, but those things were just formalities with Dimitri anyway. Besides, even if they _ did _manage to bite the blond man, he’d be alright.

There were about five risen, and they all seemed to finally catch wind of where they were and started slowly shuffling their way. Dimitri moved first, sending a punch to the first risen’s head which made it fall down to the ground with a loud growl. Byleth winced slightly at the sheer force of it, and was glad that he wasn’t the one Dimitri was taking his frustration out on. After that, he stomped on its head and it went silent after that.

Byleth was next, and he grabbed one of his throwing knives and used it to take out one of the risen that was getting too close to Dimitri’s back. Once it went down, he went to join Dimitri in the fray, standing back to back with him.

“You didn’t even _ need _the knife?” He heard Dimitri’s annoyed voice behind him.

“They’re for _ ranged _ attacks!” He argued. “And I _ may _ have forgotten about them...” He admitted after.

He heard Dimitri click his tongue, and could just _ see _the eye roll.

When the three remaining risen came to their circle, or maybe _ front line _worked better?

…

Yeah, Byleth wasn’t funny.

But anyway, when they came, Byleth slashed at one of them and then rammed his blade in it’s stomach. The thing went down with a screech, and that left two more to go. He turned around to see if Dimitri needed help, but he looked fine on his own, so Byleth just watched him. He wasn’t elegant by any means, but Byleth could tell he was at least _ trying _to think about his movements. What he lacked in grace, he made up for with powerful quick movements. In another life, he could probably see himself fighting alongside him. It wasn’t the prettiest thing to watch, but it was effective.

There was a lot of things Byleth wanted to correct him on, because the man had potential, but he was doing fine for now.

When the last two fell on the ground, Dimitri looked somewhere faraway that only he could see. He seemed dead, but Byleth knew it was just a resigned look.

“...We’ll go to Gloucester territory.” He finally said after a long moment of silence.

The green eyed man perked up, and was so happy that Dimitri didn’t immediately revert back to his crazy self.

“Thanks Dimitri, and…” He hesitated for a moment, then shook his head. “You did good out there.” He smiled at him.

Dimitri crossed his arms and scowled, “Tch.”

Before he turned away, he caught the briefest glimpse of a smile and made a mental note that he responds well to praise. Maybe in another life, he probably could have been a teacher or something… 

His smile fell for a second.

Byleth wanted to live in this moment, but there was something that wasn’t letting him. He couldn’t live with himself if he left things unresolved, so it was up to him to make things better.

“...I really _ am _ sorry Dimitri, but _ please, _ you’re not a monster...” He spoke softly, looking at the ground instead of the one he was supposed to be apologizing to.

The magical happy moment ended as soon as he uttered those words, but he didn’t regret it. It desperately needed to be said.

The blond man turned to look over his shoulder and snarl at him, his eyes narrowed. “Don’t lie to me…”

After saying that, he walked away to one of the other nearby buildings, leaving Byleth all alone. The mint haired man felt hopeless again, wanted to pull his hair out. One minute, Dimitri is sad and hurt, the next he’s just as crazy as he was when Byleth first met him. He could never get a win with him! Every time he gets closer, Dimitri takes two steps back! Maybe he should sneak away from him, and apologize to Annette and Mercedes for not being able to help them. From the looks of it, even obsessive Dimitri didn’t want him around…

But he refused to give up now. If he did, he wouldn’t be able to leave him in good conscience.

He ran a hand through his hair, making a frustrated huffing sound.

He could almost _ see _ his sister’s grins at his predicament because they were both damn sadists. Last time he felt this frustrated, they accused him of having _ sexual _frustration. It made sense back then given the circumstances, but right now there was nothing arousing about the way his heart ached. He sure as hell never popped a boner over feeling guilty, and he wasn’t about to start today, thank you very much.

Maybe he should just hold off on his attempts until they found those people. From the sounds of it, they would know how to act in this situation better than he ever could. He remembers Mercedes and Annette telling him that Edelgard was his sister or something. No one knew better than Byleth that sometimes all you needed was family, but they said that she lived in Hresvelg territory in Adrestia, so there was a pretty good chance she was dead. The next best bet was his childhood friends, Sylvain, Ingrid, and Felix. Byleth didn’t have any of those, but he imagined they made for good emotional and mental support. Mercedes said that Dedue was a close friend of his as well, but he acted like more of a manservant. Lastly, there was Ashe, although the two admitted that finding him was more of a personal wish than someone who was close to Dimitri enough to be helpful.

But regardless of how emotionally useful they’d be, he still wanted to gather as many people as he could. He wasn’t joking earlier when he said that Adrestia’s risen were much more powerful than any other risen in all of Fodlan. Even he and Dimitri at one hundred percent strength would be hard pressed to survive there. He should know, it took him over a year and a half just to leave Adrestia’s Borders and head for The Great Bridge of Myrddin. Then again, he _ was _weaponless and alone at the time, so it’s not unexpected. Not to mention he had no idea where he was even going half the time…

“Byleth! Come inside, we found someone!” He heard Annette call out to him, only to be shushed by Mercedes for being too loud.

_ They found someone?! Wow, God really does exist! _He thought sarcastically to himself, still slightly bitter from earlier events, but nodded in acknowledgement nonetheless.

He jogged all the way over to the entrance and picked up his throwing knife on the way there, carefully tucking it back inside his jacket.

“Where are they?” He asked the two, trying to peek over their heads, but it was almost pitch black inside.

“This way!” Annette hurriedly pulled on his arm, leading him through aisle after aisle.

Once she stopped, Byleth had to blink a couple of times to adjust to the darkness. The person there was not someone he’d thought he’d ever see again. What was a renowned and seasoned assassin doing _ here _of all places?

“Thunderstrike Cassandra?” He cocked his head to the side, not quite believing his eyes.

The tanned woman chuckled and then started wiping at her eyes, almost as if she was just crying. “H-Haven’t went by _ that _name in awhile, the only name I answer to now is Catherine. What about you ‘Mister Ashen Demon’?” She smirked cockily at him.

Byleth didn’t know the woman all that well outside of working with each other a few times, but the joy he felt at seeing her was indescribable.

“It’s just Byleth now…” He smiled nostalgically.

“Is that a smile? I guess it really has been a long time…” she whistled.

“Ten years can change a person…” He nodded his head.

“Speaking of _ change _, what happened to your hair kiddo? Finally gain a rebellious streak or what?”

He nodded his head no, but didn’t elaborate further.

“Ah, well I guess some things never change. You Eisners and your damn secrets…” She shook her head, a fond smile on her face.

The sound of a throat clearing interrupted the reunion. The two ex assassins turned to face Annette and Mercedes, who looked at Byleth expectantly. He looked confused at them, and they just looked at him and then her.

“Oh, um… Did you want to travel with us…?” He asked the older woman, unsure of what they wanted from him.

“Where the heck did that come from?” She laughed heartily at him, but then her face fell. “I can’t go anywhere kiddo, it’s the end of the line for me…”

“What do you mean?” He asked her, and noticed the other two women were looking away guiltily. What were they trying to say?

“Those two already asked me the same thing, and they started going on about you and the other guy. Once I heard you were with them, I asked them to call you inside so I could give you something.” She explained, and Byleth felt his world crumbling apart again.

“What do you mean? Are you injured, Mercedes here is a doctor, she can fix you!” He insisted, not ready to lose his only connection to the past.

“Shut up Byleth!” She yelled at him, effectively getting him to, well, shut up. “You should know better than most when death is unavoidable! Your doctor can’t fix me, I was bitten!”

Byleth froze at those words. _ No, _ he thought, that _ can’t _be right! Catherine was a legendary assassin, even Jeralt had respect for her and acknowledged her strength!

“How?” He asked weakly.

“Shamir. I did it so she could run away to Fhirdiad…”

Now it made sense. Shamir and Catherine were lovers, of course they’d give their lives for each other. They worked well together. He’s seen multiple occasions where one would snipe from a distance and the other would get up close and personal, how could such a legendary duo get bested?

“Aw, cheer up little man!” She grinned at him, reaching out to ruffle his hair. “I still got something for you.”

The woman pulled an ornate katana from her belt to present it to him, and Byleth recognized it right away. “Thunderbrand…?” His voice started cracking, as he gently ran his hand across the hilt.

“Yeppers, the one and only.”

“I-”

“Don’t you _ dare _ say you can’t accept it, I already got enough of that from Shamir.” She shoved the thin blade towards him.

Byleth couldn’t accept _ anything _about this situation though. He didn’t even know Catherine all that well compared to some other assassins, but it was painful to have her die.

The green eyed man got an idea after remembering a conversation with Dimitri.

Dimitri was immune to the infection, right?

“Thanks, but that won't be necessary. I have an idea.”

All three women looked at him like he was crazy, before it dawned on Annette.

“Wait, that’s right! Dimitri’s immune to bites, remember Mercie?” She looked excitedly at her best friend.

Mercedes gasped and seemed to recall the same memory as the other two. “How could I forget?”

Now it was just Catherine left to look at them like they were insane. “Immune? Does a person like that even exist?”

All three heads nodded at the same time, determination blooming within each of them.

“Huh, I don’t know what you crazy kids are planning, but I’d give anything to see Shamir again, so I’m in!" She grinned.

“Well, if this works there are some things you should know about Dimitri…” Mercedes warned the woman hesitantly, meanwhile said woman raised an eyebrow in silent questioning.

“Yeah…” Annette chimed in. “You can’t touch Byleth or get too close to him unless it’s to tend to wounds.”

“And you’re not allowed to hurt him, even accidentally.” Mercedes added quickly.

Catherine turned to look at Byleth quickly making her ponytail swing, a look of concern on her face. “Hey kid, do you need me to take care of this guy? Did he abuse you guys or something?”

Byleth furiously shook his head no, trying to kill that idea before she could act on it. “I can promise you that that’s not the case!”

Mercedes and Annette nodded their heads in confirmation too.

“Ahhh….” Catherine leaned back and crossed her arms, looking at him with an unreadable look. “Some of Jeralt’s men and the Seiros assassins used to wonder what your type was, and I gotta admit, this wasn’t what I expected…” She smirked.

What did _ that _ have to do with anything? And what type was she rambling on about? His confusion must’ve showed, because she grinned at him devilishly.

“We used to wonder why you never showed any interest in girls, and I now I know. I mean I’ve heard of possessive lovers in the past, but this really takes the cake! I didn’t think _ you _of all people would let someone else be the pitcher.”

Byleth blinked once, and then twice.

“What?!” He screeched, feeling his whole face flare red.

He turned to look at Mercedes and Annette laughing at him, even though they were trying not to. Is _ that _what it looked like to other people? Oh my god… he was so embarrassed…

He ran out of the store, his face still burning. Did everyone they really think that he and Dimitri… Byleth choked at the direction that train of thought was taking him. Worse yet, that _ he _ was the catcher? Geez, what in God’s green Fodlan did Annette and Mercedes think _ happened _ when they left the two of them alone? Is _ that _what Mercedes meant when she said convince him? They had a much dirtier mind than he gave them credit for…

Heavy footsteps made Byleth stop and look to his right.

Speak of the fucking devil, and he shall appear…

Dimitri was walking toward him, a bag slung over his shoulder.

Any other time, he would’ve been relieved to see he was okay, but now he just wanted to turn around and run back in the store.

...and he tried to do just that.

“Crap!” Byleth cursed as he fell down, his bad leg acting up on him.

Dimitri mistook his cursing as a cry of pain and dropped the bag he was holding to run over to him.

_ No, no no no no! _

He wanted to try crawling away, but since Dimitri already thought of himself as a monster, he’d probably jump to conclusions, so he didn’t.

He felt the man sit down next to him, and Byleth sighed deeply through his nose.

“Are you alright?!” He asked in a slight panic.

“Yeah…” He sighed again, not daring to tell him that Catherine made him slightly uncomfortable, or goodness knows she wouldn’t need the infection to kick in to meet a swift and painful end.

Even though he reassured him, the man still picked up Byleth anyway, with_ one _arm too. He pointlessly reminded himself that Dimitri was just freakishly strong, and that he wasn’t light or delicate, but he couldn’t help himself. Plus, it was harder to control his thoughts since all his mental strength was currently busy trying to get what Catherine said out of his head permanently.

“Whoa! I wish Shamir would let me carry her like that once in awhile!” Catherine whistled, coming out of the store with Annette and Mercedes.

Byleth felt his face heat up again, and he wanted to turn his head away from her, but that would mean putting his face in Dimitri’s chest…

In the end, avoiding more teasing won out and he buried his face into Dimitri’s chest.

Seeing his reaction, Dimitri protectively held him closer to his chest, glaring angrily at the tanned woman.

“Aw, you two make such a cute couple!” She cooed.

Dimitri looked at her with confusion.

“Who the hell are you?” He snarled.

“The name’s Catherine and don’t worry, I’m not planning on stealing your man. I can see now why he doesn't top, just look at you!” She cheekily grinned, clearly enjoying this way too much.

What happened next, nobody could’ve seen coming…

Dimitri’s mouth hung open in shock and blatant disbelief, his one visible eye opened wide. There were still cheeky little bastards left in the world?!

After a moment of silence, Dimitri dropped Byleth on the ground and went to go pick up his sack he left behind, not wanting to be around that woman any longer.

“Wait, are they _ really _not together?” Catherine asked, the very epitome of disbelief and surprise.

Four heads gave her a disbelieving and incredulous look.

From that day onward, the four companions became five.

...or did they?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thus Catherine was introduced, but will she stick around? Dun dun dunnnn!  
Next time on The Risen Dead:
> 
> Mercedes jumped up excitedly, a huge grin on her face,
> 
> "Do you know what this means?!"
> 
> "Holy shit..." Byleth whispered.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What is good? Back at you with another chapter that I hope isn't confusing,

Ever since their fallout, Dimitri reverted back to being overly protective of him. He can’t say he’s been enjoying it, but he would take it any day instead of the sad and pitiful man he made him become earlier. Actually, he didn’t know about that one either…

Everything about him made Byleth feel so emotionally constipated and drained.

This man was really testing his emotional strength, something that Byleth _ already _ lacked before this all started. Now he had to casually ask the man if he could have some of his blood? Granted, Catherine already tried, and Mercedes too, even _ Annette _had taken to begging the man before he yelled at her to leave him alone.

They had all silently agreed Byleth was the trump card to changing Dimitri’s mind in the group, to which Byleth protested just as silently. The green eyed man _ may _ have been better at this whole emotion thing recently, but he was still just so inexperienced. When another person can see that someone else needs a hug, Byleth has to think about it for a minute or two and then silently debate how to go about giving said hug, _ if _he decided he’s not too awkward to even attempt.

He knew that he said he’d wait on any other attempts, but he wasn’t ready to let Catherine die. Sure, she mercilessly teased him and Dimitri and if he was being honest, that probably ruined her chances of getting him to say yes, which were already abysmally low, but he missed the familiarity. He didn't know what to do. Annette told him he tries to solve his problems thinking like an assassin, but he needed to look at them through the lens as a person. The only problem was, that was how he was trained to look at things his whole life. He tried using one of his secondary weapons against Dimitri, his acting, because he thought it would subdue him. He convinced himself that was the only way to go about things, but he raised a weapon to Dimitri all the same. Weapons are meant to hurt, and that’s what he did. Even Dimitri, who thinks so lowly of himself to call him a beast, had more humanity than him.

He said to just ask him next time, but that wouldn’t work, he already knew it wouldn’t. However, that didn’t stop him from seeking the man out from whatever blood frenzy he was on, even if he’d really rather not watch.

There, standing several feet away from him, was the man of the hour. Really now when wasn’t he? He was the unofficial leader of the group, and they needed him to be a little less ballistic and bloodthirsty. Annette tried asking him to fill that role instead, but he doesn’t know how. Dimitri, he was a natural born leader. Even at his lowest, he could make people listen to him and he had the power to unify people. Byleth? Well, he was trained to take orders his whole life without question or hesitation, it wasn’t just something he could drop in one night.

While he agreed they needed to get him back on track, he didn’t know if could take the reigns should Dimitri ever become too unstable to hold them. So here he was, waiting for a good time to speak with Dimitri, trying not to let the sound of screeches and dark laughter make him lose his nerve. It was very easy to walk away, but he needed to do this not only for Catherine, but Dimitri too.

While he wouldn’t say he’s managed to come to care for him and lay his life on the line for him, he _ would _ say he’s finally seeing him as something other than, ‘that one guy that seems too like me a little _ too _ much’. He’d be lying if he said that Dimitri wasn’t handsome, he had a sort of wild and dangerous look to him, which shouldn’t have been as attractive as it was to him. He’d _ also _ be lying if he said that didn’t play a _ teeny _tiny part in it.

His whole life, he can confirm he’s been gay, but sexual attraction and attraction in general was almost next to nothing. It really wasn’t fair that the only person the universe seemed content with letting him get attracted to just happened to be Dimitri.

Whatever though, he could do this.

The mint haired man came out of his hiding spot after the last of the risen fell. He decided to start off with something unrelated, and then he’d casually pop the question.

“Good job Dimitri.” He started off with, because he knew the other loved praise, even though he didn’t show it. Okay, he was off to a good start.

The ragged man turned to look at him with a suspicious, but reluctantly pleased expression.

“You could stand to gain more momentum before you charge to attack though, and maybe try feinting more since the risen don’t understand those tactics.”

Dimitri scowled and looked away, not liking being criticized.

“Why are you here?” He spat, glaring at him.

So much for casually popping the question.

“Can you let Mercedes take some of your blood?” If Dimitri wanted blunt, he was damn well gonna get fucking blunt.

“No.”

Byleth just barely managing to pull out his hair, reminding himself that he knew this was going to happen. Still, it didn’t make it any easier.

Wait…

There was _ one _ thing that nobody’s tried yet…

“Why?”

Dimitri looked taken aback by the question, clearly not expecting someone to ask him why. To be fair, just asking Dimitri anything required a lot of mental willpower and courage, so it’s not hard to imagine no would ask him why. Even Byleth was starting to lose his nerve, but he needed to look at this problem as Byleth the person, and not Byleth the assassin. People empathized with each other right?

“...I don’t want her to become like me…” He admitted bitterly.

Byleth looked at him weird for a minute, not quite getting it. No offense, but he was pretty sure _ no one _wanted to be like Dimitri. She wouldn’t turn crazy from a little blood, right?

“Why that face? Don’t you know what I’m talking about?” He sounded offended, but Byleth couldn’t bring himself to say yes.

“Did you really think I was _ naturally _ immune? Or that I was _ naturally _born with beastly strength? Did you honestly think I bludgeoned out my own eye because I decided to be angsty one day?” He laughed, blue eye wide and crazed.

_ Well… _he would be lying if he said he didn’t think that at least the last one was true.

“I was hunted down like the beast I am because of what my DNA now holds. I was just a cow fattened for slaughter, and should that woman take some of that DNA…”

Oh… _ Oh! _

“The Adrestian corp. tried... hunting you down?” Somehow, he couldn’t imagine it.

“Yes, even now I know they crave my death.” He snarled.

Wait, even _ now? _Did that mean…

“Dimitri, did know you were putting us all in danger from the start…?” He asked disbelievingly, and also a bit hurt. He didn’t know why that hurt him as much as it did, but it stung.

At least he looked somewhat guilty. “Yes I did…” He turned away, a conflicted and lost look on his face. “Do not look upon me with such scorn, not you…” He balled his hands into fists, but Byleth could see the trembling.

“Is it really so wrong that I was tired of being alone?! That I didn’t want to be put down like a wild dog?! That I wanted to give my loved ones peace, and to avenge all who lost their lives in those twisted labs?!” He roared, eyes glossy.

Byleth stood stunned, unsure of what to say.

“That horrible man, ‘The Death Knight’, he did_ this _ to me when I escaped!” He turned around and lifted up his shirt, for Byleth to see large scars and gashes all along his back. They were old, but he could see the damage, and how big one particular long gash was that went from his left shoulder blade to his hip.

“Back when I just wanted to live a normal life, he reminded me I couldn’t by doing _ this _!” He faced Byleth, and lifted up his eyepatch to reveal an empty socket with nasty cuts and scars that haven’t healed properly.

“He tried to slaughter me for sport, and took my eye as a trophy! His scythe, the one he calls Sariel, even now it plagues my nightmares! It still scares me, the way he rode on a horse in pitch black armor like a reaper of death…”

Byleth didn’t know what to do, as he was too stunned to even speak. He’s heard of the Death Knight before in the labs, back before he was the only one left, all the older subjects would tell the younger ones to listen or the ‘The Death Knight’ would come for them. He thought he was just some myth used to get them to listen to the scientists. But this? It didn’t sound like the Death Knight, it sounded like some demonic beast of old. He made Dimitri sound like _ Spongebob _ . Dimitri was so scared of him, he couldn’t even bring himself to want revenge on him, he just wanted to be able to _ survive _ another encounter with him.

“I am… terrified of him. I’m scared that he’ll hunt her down too. _ I _ wasn’t strong enough to kill him, and if she ever encounters him? She’ll be slaughtered…”

Never once had Byleth seen someone who looked so... pitiful, and this is coming from someone who used to kill people for a living. Dimitri looked so lost and small, and Byleth moved before his brain could catch up.

He reached out his hand toward the other man, who looked so overwhelmed, all he could do was stare at it dumbfoundedly. He looked away and scowled, pushing away his hand.

“You’re a foolish man…” He mumbled lowly.

“You’re always making me bend to your will like a damn dog…” He sighed.

“Whatever happens Dimitri, we can do it together. You’re not alone anymore. You have me, Mercedes, and Annette who are all here to support you. Even Catherine can become someone important to you if you gave her a chance…” He blurted out.

“...Fine. I’ll do it.”

“But I’m not doing it for her.” Was all he said before walking off to the Mechanic shop that Mercedes made her temporary office in, leaving a strangely flustered Byleth behind.

* * *

“Uh, so I know now's not the time, but do you really think we can do this?” Catherine was playing with the cotton ball that Mercedes used to clean the needle she was holding.

The light haired woman turned to face her companion, concern etching her features. “Is something the matter?”

“Well, I just feel like the big and scary guy doesn't like me, and that he might not agree to help because of it.” She rubbed the back of her head guiltily.

Mercedes hummed thoughtfully, thinking on the best way to answer that. “ Well, I’m not going to lie to you and say he’s thrilled about having your company around after that mess.” She stopped for a second, replacing the old needle with the one she just finished cleaning. “But deep down somewhere, I don’t think Dimitri minds the extra company and that he’ll help you out eventually.” She said confidently, now focusing her efforts opening a small vial and thoroughly sanitizing it.

“I don’t have time for ‘eventually’, I’m giving myself three days at most…” She spoke quietly, a faraway look in her blue eyes.

“That’s plenty of time.” Mercedes said dismissively, now in full doctor mode.

“Plenty of time for what? We don’t even know what we’re doing, or how to do it. I’m not a doctor or anything, but I know a simple blood transfusion isn’t going to cut it.”

“Well we may not know how this is going to work yet but…” She pulled Catherine’s arm toward her, checking her pulse and looking at her veins in her wrist. “If we _ do _ manage to pull this off, just think about how many lives we can save. Besides, who knows? Maybe a simple blood transfusion _ is _all it takes.” She put down her arm and went to record her findings in a simple notebook.

“Y’know Mercedes, you really know how to make a mechanic's shop feel like a doctors office…” She said idly, looking around the place.

The woman giggled lightly, and smiled, now in motherly mode. “Oh thank you! I just played doctor with my little brother a long time ago and made it a habit to be ready to set up any place as an ‘office’.” She turned around and went to compare yesterday’s results with the one she just recorded.

“Hmm…”

“What that’s sound for?” Catherine asked worriedly.

“How long ago were you bitten Catherine?” Mercedes asked, doctor mode activated again.

“About six days ago, why?”

“Well usually early symptoms involve discoloration in skin and eye pigment, although hair color has been changed in the past too, and you’ll also notice your veins become a darker color. Later symptoms are a slowed heart rate, increased aggression and skin deterioration. However, you’re only just barely starting to show signs of the first phase which is pretty late for six days” She explained to the now less on edge woman.

“Really?”

“Yes, it’s amazing actually. Although aside from Dimitri, I haven’t heard of anyone completely immune to the infection, but I have a theory.”

“Oh yeah?”

“I think that us humans are slowly starting to build up a higher immunity to the disease after five years of being exposed to it. Do you recall when they first publicly announced the infection as an epidemic before it became known as the widely spread pandemic it is today? They said it was airborne.”

“Yeah, but it was too weak to infect most people, what about it?”

“It only infected people who had very poor immune systems at the time, but then those people started infecting others and so on and so forth. Since the disease is in the air, I think we have built up a slight resistance in that time. Although it could take decades to build a complete immunity, _ if _humanity survives that long.”

“Huh, and if this works, we could speed up that process or something?” The tanned woman asked, a thoughtful look in her eyes.

“In theory yes, but if not, we can at least create vaccinations to prevent the spread from getting wider.”

A silence fell upon the woman as Mercedes went back to making the necessary preparations to take some of Dimitri’s blood. Catherine was lost in thought, thinking over everything that she was told, and a thought crossed her mind.

_ “Well usually early symptoms involve discoloration in skin and eye pigment, although hair color has been changed in the past too…” _

“Byleth fits all those early symptoms you mentioned earlier, doesn't he?” She mumbled.

Mercedes stiffened, and went back to face Catherine. “What do you mean?” She asked hesitantly, not liking where this was going.

“His hair was darker than that a long time ago, it was more of a teal color than mint. His eyes also used to be blue, but now they’re green…” She rested her head on her arms, a sigh escaping her. “I thought it was pretty weird that he just changed so drastically, he seemed paler and weaker, but I was so happy to see a familiar face, I didn’t really question it.”

“His hair and eyes weren’t always that color?” Mercedes sounded very intrigued now, and Catherine continued on.

“I can tell you right now, they weren’t.”

“But that would mean that hers weren’t always like that either…”

“Who’s ‘her’?”

Mercedes winced and seemed to have a really long mental battle before answering. “Um Catherine, do you know a woman named Blair Olivia Eisner?”

“Sure do! I know all the Eisners! But uh, how do_ you _know her?”

“Well, me, Dimitri, and Annie all went to the same school and our professor’s name was Blair. Byleth looks very much like her, to the point where it looks like she got a sex change and started calling herself Byleth. That’s why...” Mercedes hesitated, clearly not wanting to continue. “That’s why Dimitri was so taken with him at first. I was shocked to see how similar he looked to her, I was about to change my faith and start believing in reincarnation. But if Byleth’s hair and eyes aren’t natural, I think it’s safe to assume that hers aren’t either.”

“Yeah, I’m not sure what he did in the time he disappeared, but what if he got infected?” Catherine asked seriously.

Mercedes shook her head, dismissing the idea. “I don’t think he’s infected. Blair showed up at our school before the pandemic even started, and she had that hair and eye color.”

“Wait, you don't think that maybe this happened _ before _-”

“Silence! I will snap _ both _ of your necks if you ever speak about that ever again!” Boomed Dimitri voice, making both of the woman visibly flinch, even Catherine.

He was walking towards them both, his footsteps loud and echoing in the long since abandoned shop.

“Do not speak of _ her _again either…” Dimitri looked away, his face a swirling mess of guilt, shame, sorrow, and anger.

“Back when he was still in a light coma, you told me that you only saved him because he was useful and because he looks like-”

“I told you to shut up! I’m not here to talk about this!” He gripped at his hair, trying not pull it out since his strength could hurt even himself.

“Oh right, the blood.” Mercedes said, quickly grabbing her needle and vial.

Dimitri sat down obediently, trying to get this over with. When Mercedes came up to him and looked at his jacket expectantly, he scowled and tugged off his jacket, revealing his well muscled arms. Mercedes carefully sanitized the spot where she was going to inject the needle in him.

While they were taking some of his blood, Catherine was left to stew in her own thoughts. Which weren’t pleasant to say the least.

_ “Back when he was still in a light coma, you told me that you only saved him because he was useful and because he looks like-” _

“You’re telling me that you’ve been using him this _ whole _ time? Does he even _ know _ why he’s here!” She snapped at him, standing up as the full implications of that sentence finally sunk in. “His sisters mean the fucking _ world _to him, and you’d take advantage of that just to fullfill your own greed? I’m actually really glad he’s not in love with you like I thought, you’re a sick beast…” She spat.

Dimitri looked down, his long bangs covering his face. His hands were clenched in tight fists, and he breathed to himself, trying to calm down. Byleth _ likes _this person, he reminded himself, but the witch was out of line!

“I...”

She said Byleth didn’t love him? Was she… trying to take him away from Dimitri…? ...but he needed him, and he even gave him his hand earlier. That woman spoke of nothing but lies...

When the blond looked up again, the blank and hollow look on his face scared them. Something bad was about to happen, and Mercedes left to go find Byleth.

As soon as she walked out the door, Dimitri pounced like a lion to prey.

He sprinted up to the woman who was so confused, she couldn’t move. The blond haired man grabbed her by the neck and threw her across the room in a fit of fury. If Catherine had been anyone else, she would’ve died from that alone, but her assassin’s skills and training allowed her to survive, though half of her ribs on the right just broke.

In Catherine’s mind, she was just someone looking out for a friend, but in Dimitri’s mind, she was a hag who was trying to ruin his only chance at _ finally _having someone to care for again.

Catherine rolled to avoid further injuries, and realized how crazy the man actually was. She shakily stood on her feet, ready to pull out Thunderbrand, only to get kicked down again. She writhed in pain at the boot that was now crushing her stomach.

“**Don’t take him he’s mine! I need him!**” He cried at her, his eyes glossy and desperate.

“I’m-” She tried speaking, but Dimitri pushed his foot down harder.

“You can either take my blood in silence, or you can make as much noise as you want while I drain every drop of _ your _blood from your body!” He roared at her, still believing that she was trying to steal him away.

Dimitri was about to raise his foot, and end her life once and for all, but…

_ “Whatever happens Dimitri, we can do it together. You’re not alone anymore. You have me, Mercedes, and Annette who are all here to support you. Even Catherine can become someone important to you if you gave her a chance…” _

He needed to stop.

“I’m so-” He tried to apologize, slowly moving his foot away, but a gunshot fired at the wall ahead of him.

“Get away from her.”

Dimitri turned to be met with emotionless green eyes, and a gun pointed at him. Huh, is that what it felt like when your soul was shattered and your heart broke? It was such a painful feeling, he would’ve never guessed…

He tried walking towards him, but another warning shot was fired. Not sure what to do, he left. No, he ran away because he couldn’t stand such a look in Byleth’s eyes. It was so different from the hesitant warmth that he was used to. He wondered if Blair ever looked at him like that…

“Oh hey, great timing Dimitri! I just found this cat.” Annette ran up to him, holding a big box.

Dimitri tried to run away again, but the box she was carrying almost fell and Dimitri went to take it from her, lest she drop a cat on the unforgiving pavement.

“Where are you putting this?” He asked her, shifting a bit uncomfortably.

“Oh, I was thinking that maybe the shop would be nice.”

Right, of _ course _ it was the shop.

He was tempted to walk away, but he decided to help her.

“So, are you… okay?” She asked him a bit uncomfortably, not wanting to get him angry.

“No…”

“Right, uh do you need anything?”

“No…”

“You know, whatever you just did, I’m sure Byleth will forgive you.”

His hands gripped tighter around the box, but a hissing sound made his grip relax again.

“No, he won’t.”

Annette turned to him, a shocked expression on her face.

“Why do you say that?”

“Because I…” He swallowed, his throat getting dry. “I did something bad…” He admitted quietly, his face burning with guilt.

Annette now had a cautious look to her, but she held her ground. Dimitri was never this vocal, and she didn’t want to scare him off when he was _ finally _being open.

“Why’d you do it?” She asked quietly, already knowing what happened in her heart.

“I thought that she was… trying to take him from me.” He whispered softly, a look of pain on his features. He then scowled at her, and roughly shoved the box in her hands and left.

* * *

Byleth fell to his knees, his breathing heavy.

He could still see the hurt on his face and the betrayal. His heart ached, and he was tired of all these feelings he couldn’t understand. He understood that he had to be stopped, but he didn’t feel too great about betraying his trust again.

_ “Dimitri, did know you were putting us all in danger from the start…?” He asked disbelievingly, and also a bit hurt. He didn’t know why that hurt him as much as it did, but it stung. _

_ At least he looked somewhat guilty. “Yes I did…” He turned away, a conflicted and lost look on his face. “Do not look upon me with such scorn, not you…” He balled his hands into fists, but Byleth could see the trembling. _

_ “Is it really so wrong that I was tired of being alone?! That I didn’t want to be put down like a wild dog?! That I wanted to give my loved ones peace, and to avenge all who lost their lives in those twisted labs?!” He roared, eyes glossy. _

Is that what it looked like? Like he was some hunter about to kill off a wild boar? He really thought that he was finally getting somewhere, but he never does. Was he cursed to an existence of never being able to help him?

He turned to look at Catherine who passed out from pain, and then to Mercedes who was injecting blood into a vial and then ran over to Catherine. Since neither of them were looking…

Byleth grabbed the familiar jacket on the ground, holding it as he curled into a ball and tried not to weep.

“I know you probably don’t want to hear this right now, but look!” Mercedes exclaimed.

Byleth sat up and wiped his eyes, slowly trotting over to the ex doctor, not letting go of Dimitri jacket. The woman saw the jacket, but didn’t say anything.

“Look at that!” She pointed to the woman's arm, where put in the needle. That area’s bruises started fading, and more colour came back to her skin in that area. That was quick…

Mercedes jumped up excitedly a huge grin on her face.

“Do you know what this means?”

“Holy shit…” Byleth whispered.

* * *

At long last, the idealized world was finally coming to pass.

After so many years, and so many trials and errors, it was finally happening.

The weak were the first to go naturally, but the survivors far exceeded any expectations. Especially _ those _ two. Of course since Project Sanatio’s experiment PSS032 was among them, that accounted for one of them. The other wasn’t surprising either really, but it was more of a worrisome surprise than a pleasant one. He wasn’t supposed to be a factor for this world, yet he still lived. That damned bother was supposed to have died once he filled his required role, reminding them all how badly they had failed their savior whenever he would strut cockily across the monitor screen. It wasn’t that he was a _ botched _ subject per se, he was actually _ too _much of a success, but it was that he had the power to destroy everything that everyone had worked for in more ways than one.

He had to go.

As one of the only places left in Fodlan- no, the world that still had power and resources to spare, it was up to them to take down the demon with one eye. It wasn’t as though his death would mean anything, the title and inheritance he once had would mean nothing in light of the new world. As a matter of fact, all of the things that humans held in high regard that made them turn greedy, all of it wouldn’t matter in their perfect world. Corruption, money, extravagance, natural resources being hogged by the privileged countries instead of sharing with the third world, overpopulation… All of it would cease to be!

...once they removed the last barrier that kept them from reclaiming PSS032.

Once the human species dwindled between endangered and on the verge of extinction, they would unleash the cure and the second phase of their plan would come to pass. Except that their key to reforging the world, their textbook to study, escaped. He was the first and _ only _ successful attempt they had. All forty five other subjects couldn’t handle the pain that came with the transformation, except PSS031 and PSS046, but their lifespans were shortened tremendously. He was the first one that could withstand it, _ and _remain relatively unaffected. Mental health aside, his hair lost a lot of its pigment and his eyes changed, but he was still mostly the same. He left before they could study the reason behind why it worked that time, and not all the other times.

However if they managed to find enough people to pose a threat, everything will have been a total waste. Especially if they banded together with the others and their long standing enemy, Rhea.

Those two had the power and potential to wipe away _ everything _they dedicated their whole lives to in a span of a few hours, and there was nothing they could do about it. It was always easier to destroy than it was to create, and with someone as destructible as that clod of man, and someone as brilliant as PSS032, it was only a matter of time.

...is what they would think if they were worried, but they had plenty of tricks up their sleeve to keep the monster at bay.

The demon of Blaiddyd versus the might of Adrestia? Who _ would _be worried? They had the power to make him what he was today, and they had had the power to end him. Adrestia’s might was not limited to it’s advanced technology, they had many other ways of quieting beasts after all.

A head turned to look at a young woman in the corner of the room, a plan already forming in their head. The woman noticed them staring and made an acknowledging humming sound.

“Say Kronya, are you up for a little mission?”

The grin on her face at those words was eerie, as well as the look in her eyes, but her mental state wasn’t their concern. As long as she got the job done, that was all that mattered.

“Sure! What do you need me to do?” She asked in a sickeningly sweet voice, like a poisonous pill disguised to look like a sweet candy.

Kronya, the young woman was an experiment for another project, and she failed, but they kept her around because she was still useful.

They gestured for her to come over, and pointed at the monitor.

“Hey, it’s dumbo and doll!” She giggled, even though she was seething at the two painfully familiar faces.

“Are you up for the task?”

“Of course! I’m always happy to do anything for _ you! _”

“Good, take Ladislava with you and make sure not to kill ‘doll’. Do what you will with the others and no matter how long it takes, do not let them reach Enbarr.”

“Pfft, this is gonna be _ way _too easy! I’ll rip them apart before they can even scream!”

“I don’t really care what atrocities you do to them, as long as PSS032 comes back alive.”

“I’ll even bring back that demon’s other eye as a trophy! It’ll go great with the first one! When I kill him, I’ll brag to Jeritza since even _ he _couldn’t kill him!” She giggled, a crazy look in her wild eyes, completely ignoring the other person at this point.

“Hn, like _ you’re _ the one who even got the first one. If you fail, then I’ll task Jeritza with this instead, since if _ he _brought the other eye, at least he could properly claim that he took both.”

The woman growled at the mention of the other person, and probably at her ego being stomped on. In any case, it didn’t matter. Kronya was just a weakling they were going to use to test the ragtag group’s strength. Even Jeritza was a just another piece on the chess board, but his formidable strength and lack of sympathy made him much more valuable than a pawn like Kronya.

If analogies were being made, then let them make more. Dimitri was the king on the other side of the board, those two women were pawns, the ex assassin was a rook, and PSS032 was…

Hm.

If he wasn’t the king, and if he was more valuable than a bishop or knight…

A smirk appeared on their face.

Was that it then? Was he to be the queen? Or would this be the first chess game with two kings?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This fanfiction is going a wildly different direction than I originally planned. I swear, it's like it's writing itself at this point! O.o  
Next time on The Risen Dead:
> 
> "Do you love him?" She asked quietly.
> 
> "..."
> 
> He didn't know if he capable of that anymore...


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, look at that! A chapter! So no excuses from me or anything, because I know you don't want to hear it, bit sorry? Anyway, I hope you enjoy!
> 
> WARNINGS!  
There is a heavy emphasis on internalized homophobia in here. (Is that what it's called? I just went based off the tag) I put it in the notes because it's not really present throughout the whole fic.

Why?

It was such a common question for Dimitri by now, that he ironically, didn’t question it. Did he need a reason for anything that wasn’t revenge?

Those were his thoughts for a long time, and one simply cannot shake a habit overnight, even though they still try to anyway. He used to ask himself everyday why he would still want Byleth around after finding his sisters, since he used him as a mere tool and stand-in for Blair. When he heard that he had sisters, he figured that he wouldn’t even be useful as a tool anymore once he found them. So when he got the  _ real  _ object of his desires, he assumed he would leave Byleth alone to fend for himself. He  _ did  _ say many times that he was capable of taking care of himself, and that he didn’t want him around.

Therefore the question that plagues his mind almost as much as the dead, is why?

Why did he still want him around even  _ after  _ retrieving Blair? Why did he start calling him Byleth instead of Blair anymore? In his own head of course, because the man would leave him in a second if he heard him call him by that name. Why did he tell himself it was to keep Byleth with him when he knew it was really because he would get hurt? Most importantly, why did it hurt him to know that he caused him pain?

One of the reasons he kept Byleth around in the beginning, aside from the obvious, was because he was stone cold and wouldn't get attached to him.

But now, he noticed that he had him all wrong. He wasn’t an emotionless killing machine who didn’t care about anything, and even though that was what he wanted in the start, he was relieved to know that wasn’t the case.

He could be witty, humourous, snarky, teasing, and... adorable. Whenever he got flustered, which by the way, wasn’t easy, it was certainly a sight. The way his mouth would curve in a slight pout, or a gape if it was something particularly embarrassing. He would avoid eye contact and his green eyes would look at the ground, but if it was in good spirits, he would try hiding a tiny that wanted to come out. Byleth was special to him now, whether he wanted it or not.

Dimitri had desperately wanted to run away after nearly killing Catherine, but he stayed and locked himself away. He believed he was a monster, a danger to them all. It was also out of cowardice, because he couldn’t face him. Dimitri had a problem, one he’s had for many years now, he was too obsessive about few things, and uncaring towards everything else. Even though Catherine was the one he hurt, he only wanted Byleth’s forgiveness. Strange right? But he would go on his knees and beg if it meant he never looked at him like a beast ever again, with steely and cold green eyes. Wasn’t he just messed up? Oh, he can hear Felix’s voice even now, “ A boar doesn’t want to be seen as a boar, how pitiable…”

Normally he would disagree with such a statement, but he couldn’t this time.

All these feelings of his, he needed to kill them.

The only thing he could do was kill, right? His enemies often told him as much before they died, back before the outbreak. Besides, how could he feel such things about Byleth? Who  _ wasn’t _ Blair, no matter how much he looked like her.

“We’re getting ready to march out Dimitri.” Came a woman’s voice from the door of the room he confined himself to.

When he looked up, he saw loose orange hair and experienced eyes. He remembers back when she kept her hair in those silly loopy pigtails of hers, and her eyes were filled with wonder and curiosity instead of fear. It wasn’t really a war going on, but it changed her. The blue eyed man mused to himself what she must’ve thought about him.

...no doubt she had thought him terrible, but was too nice to say it. Mercedes was her main influence on her after all, and that woman would bring any negative thoughts she had about other people to the grave if it meant she wouldn’t hurt their feelings.

Five years ago, things were much different weren’t they? He still had two eyes back then! Truly the times must have changed. But he doesn’t want to go back to any of it if it meant that he would’ve never met-

“Byleth…” Annette whispered quietly, shutting the door behind her and effectively getting Dimitri’s head to snap up to her with a look of surprise on his face. “That’s who you’re thinking about right?” She approached him slowly, standing directly in front of him.

The blond looked away, a conflicted look written across his face.

“What does it matter who I’m thinking about?” He growled warningly, but it was more out of instinct than an actual threat. God, even his instincts were that of a wild animal…

“You know, he doesn’t hate you and neither does Catherine.” She tried again, a look of determination in her blue eyes.

“Don’t act like you can speak for them! They both hate me, who doesn’t?” He barked out brokenly, his only eye narrowed and his teeth bared like a dog.

“That’s enough! You can’t be a hypocrite Dimitri!” She huffed angrily, fed up with the blond’s attitude. “You’re right that I can’t speak for them, but that also means that  _ you  _ can’t speak about how  _ we _ all feel about you.” The short woman narrowed her eyes firmly.

Slightly taken aback, the blond looked at her curiously, not quite comprehending how anyone  _ couldn’t  _ hate his very existence.

“Look, I won’t speak for Mercie, Catherine or Byleth, but  _ I _ personally am worried about you and just want you to get better. I know I can’t help you that much, but I’m trying! We  _ all  _ are, please give us a chance!” She pleaded with the man, her eyes showing how desperate she was.

“...” He didn’t say anything, and huddled his knees close to his chest.

“You won’t know for sure that he hates you if all you do is run away…” She whispered quietly, a defeated look on her face.

“Stop mentioning him! He’s nothing but a means to an end! When this is all over-”

“Stop lying to yourself!” She nearly screeched, enraged that he would mention that Byleth was just a pawn to him.

“He’s trying just as hard as the rest of us! He’s gotten so much better at handling himself and expressing his emotions since joining us, and you want to call him a tool? Like he’s some…  _ thing  _ that has no will of its own?” She continued, a slightly incredulous look upon her features.

Dimitri finally looked away from the woman, lest she see what he really felt. If he was forced to admit the truth to himself, that would mean he had acknowledge everything else about himself too. There were just some things he wasn’t ready to face yet, things he buried deep inside himself long ago. Dimitri just wasn’t ready to have to face all his demons yet-

“I always thought it was so weird that you told me you were gay you know…” She sat down next to him, speaking quietly.

“When I told you that I loved you, you said you were gay. I believed you until I noticed how unusually obsessed you were with our teacher, and then I thought you just told me that so you could let me down gently…” Annette continued, a wistful and faraway look in her eyes.

Where was she going with this? Wait-

“Annette, please don’t…” He begged her, a look of pure fear on his face.

Did she know then? Did she know this whole time? His biggest secret, one that he didn’t feel safe admitting even in his own head, was it possible that it wasn’t as much of a secret as he had thought?

“I used to hate her actually, and I told myself it was because I was too childish. I used to cry all the time, and never again thought that you were gay. How could I? When you clearly wanted  _ her,  _ who didn’t even follow the dress code and was a tease to all her male students, even if she  _ was  _ a genuinely kind person.” She said in a shaky, but steady voice. A lone tears made its way down her round cheek.

“Please…” He begged her again, a look of growing horror in his blue eye.

The woman threw her head back and laughed a sad and broken laugh, more tears rolling down her face. “I know that you would never lie to me, the  _ old _ you anyway, so I couldn’t figure out what went wrong. I didn’t see it until just recently actually…” She smiled bitterly.

“I like him too y’know? He can be pretty sweet and adorable, and you can guarantee that he’ll always do his best to protect those he cares about. I mean, travelling across the entire continent for his sisters? You can’t get more devoted than that.”

All Dimitri could do was grow more pale, and wait for it to come out.

“You never did lie to me, not really. The way you look at him, like he’s the only person that matters, it’s hard not to notice after a while. I got over you a long time ago, but I guess I still felt slightly jealous anyway. Aside from professor Eisner, you never showed interest in women. However, for Felix a long time ago, you would look at him like you adored him. Your touches lingered for a little longer than necessary, and you smiled lovingly even when he would call you boar.”

The ginger haired woman turned to face him, a strange air of authority around her.

“But Byleth? What you feel for him makes you and Felix seem like strangers to each other. The possessive and wanting stares, the feral way you guard him from everyone else, the adoring looks you would give him whenever he flushed…” Her eyes narrowed and her lips pursed. “Dimitri, I know now that you’re gay. I won’t ask about why you ‘liked’ Blair, but I  _ will  _ ask you this about Byleth…”

“Do you love him?” She asked quietly.

“...”

He didn’t know if he was capable of that anymore…

No, to be more accurate, he wasn’t allowed to. Liking the same gender was something his step mother had absolutely  _ despised _ about homosexual people. In fact, he would hardly be surprised if that’s why she did… some stuff to him.

“No, being gay is a sin. All gays can go to hell…” He muttered robotically, the same verse he would tell his old friends when they asked him about it. Even though it’s been ages since he’s said it, it came out like a rehearsed script.

The short woman smiled a dirty and cold smile, one that was out of place on her kind and innocent features. “Heh, yeah right. If you’re straight, then prove it.”

Dimitri’s face paled and his eyes widened in panic at her words. How on earth was he going to convince-

The blond’s head was yanked towards the woman with a surprising amount of strength, and he felt sheer terror fill his gut.

“Annet-”

“Kiss me if you’re not gay.” She smirked, but also had a regretful look on her face.

Before he could be given any time to react, the blue and black clad man felt her pulling his face toward hers and once he felt her breath on his face, he was about to start hyperventilating. He couldn’t do this, he couldn’t do this, he couldn’t do this,  _ HE COULDN’T FUCKING DO THIS! _

He closed his eyes and pushed her away from him, a sick look on his face.

“Don’t  _ ever  _ fucking touch me again…” He whispered, rocking himself back and forth.

The woman groaned in pain, but he couldn’t bring himself to feel bad, not even a little.

“I… already knew that w-would happen…” She spoke up wearily, slowly getting herself off the ground.

“What do you mean you little witch?!” He practically hissed at her, not ready to listen to anything else she had to say.

“If it wasn’t Byleth, you wouldn’t do it. You wanted  _ him  _ to be the one that pulled your face towards his, you wanted  _ him  _ to kiss you. You wouldn’t do it with me, because…”

By the time she finished her sentence, she was fully standing up and clutching her stomach. “You’re  ** _gay._ ** ”

“No!” He shut his tightly, pulling at his hair while continuing to rock himself back and forth.

Annette looked at him with a disbelieving stare. “Are you serious? You’re gay, and you need to admit that to yourself! You told me that a long time ago, and  _ now  _ you want to play this game? You love him Dimitri, and you’re attracted to him because he’s a  _ man!” _

“...but, wouldn’t you guys hate me if I was gay? Edelgard sure did…” He spoke so quietly, a lost and faraway look in his eyes.

Annette’s face fell as she remembered the woman Dimitri was talking about. All of the frustration she had earlier left her so quickly when she saw that look in his eyes. Remembering what the blond man had done for her all those years ago, she carefully sat next to him and leaned on one of his broad shoulders.

“I’m sorry, I had no idea that Edelgard didn’t accept you. I don’t know her reasons, but I promise you that we’re not like that. Catherine has a female lover, and you know Mercedes and I aren’t going to judge you. Byleth, I don’t know much about him, but he has Blair’s kindness and understanding, I promise he won’t hate you. And just so you know, I never told anyone that it was you who I confessed my feelings to, not even Mercie, so they don’t know...” She linked their arms together, rubbing small circles in his palm.

The man finally stopped hyperventilating, and she could’ve sworn she felt him relax, just a little.

Yeah, unrequited love really sucked. Truth was, she wasn’t over him, but he didn’t want her like that. Even though it hurt a lot, she was going to have to accept that and move on. It was going to be hard, but she would be happy as long as he was. Besides, she may like boys, but she liked girls too. Who knows? Maybe one day she’d be able to return Mercedes’ feelings…

She stood up, and dusted off her dress.

“Come on Dimitri, we gotta leave soon.”

“...” When the man didn’t budge, she tried again.

“Come on, big brother…” She smiled at him, feeling a bit nostalgic.

For just a second, she swore she saw him smile too.

“Okay... sister.”

It hurt just a little to be called that, but she would take it any day over ‘little witch’. Even though at the end of the day, she wouldn’t be the one to save him, she was proud to say that she helped.

The orange haired woman heard him stand up and walk past her with a regalness that she hadn’t seen since she was in high school. She knew where he was headed, towards the man he loved, even if he wasn’t ready to admit it yet. She turned around, heading toward the group as well, proud of herself that her tears weren’t falling.

Up ahead, she the group. Dimitri was lowly bowing toward Catherine, his messy bangs covering his face.

“I-I am  _ so  _ so sorry Catherine. I know now that you were only looking out for him, and I want to apologize for hurting you…” Annette heard him say, pride welling in her chest at those words.

Maybe he wasn’t completely fixed yet, but she had faith he would get there one day.

“Aw, don’t worry about it kid! You helped me out too, so I guess we’re even then? And don’t worry, I didn’t tell him anything, I decided to leave it up to you.”

Oh, of course, how could she forget? Byleth was the only one who  _ didn’t _ know why Dimitri was so obsessed with him at first. Finally, the man turned to Byleth and from her angle of where she was standing, she could see the anxiety written all across his face. The tall man froze on the spot, and took and turned his back on him.

“B-Byleth, I’m so sorry to you too…” He apologized to the mint haired man, looking over his shoulder and turning back when he was done.

Annette saw Mercedes give a mischievous smirk to Catherine who grinned in response. The two men were so distracted by each other, that they didn’t notice the two ladies sneaking up on the green eyed man. Once they were close enough…

Byleth gasped as he was abruptly shoved into Dimitri’s back.

Shocked, the blond man turned around with a wide eye to face Byleth.

“U-um, um…” Byleth sputtered like a broken record, face flushing madly. He tried to hide his blush and look stoic, but it was even more endearing that for all his efforts, he couldn't hide the blood rising to his cheeks.

It was a cute sight really. Those two didn’t even realize that they made each other more human, did they?

The shorter man was pulled into what looked like a tight embrace by Dimitri, and his flush got even worse. This time, he couldn’t use Catherine’s teasing as an excuse for all the butterflies fluttering in his stomach. After a couple of moments, he relaxed slightly and returned the hug as best he could since he was practically being suffocated.

Annette finally made her way to the group, and stood by her usual place at Mercedes’ side.

“What did you two talk about?” The older woman whispered gently, quiet enough that you wouldn’t hear it over Catherine’s hearty chuckles.

“Oh, nothing much.” She lied, smiling heart brokenly at the two getting even more embarrassed from Catherine’s relentless teasing.

She almost jumped when she felt a soft hand hold hers, and instead of pulling away like she used to, she squeezed back. She felt the cat she rescued earlier rub itself against her leg, and she looked at Mercie and then then the cat. It wasn't what she originally had in mind, but she could get used to this. She thought Dimitri was in denial but the loving smile Mercedes gave her made her think that she was a fool too.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think I actually really liked writing this chapter, even though it took like forever and it's not even that long. I just want to let you know right away though, Dimitri is NOT magically fixed now, but he's getting there. :D  
#DimitriProtectionSquad


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